31 July 2023, Bengaluru: The Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at IIM Bangalore hosted an exposure visit for school principals in collaboration with CBSE on July 27 and 28, 2023. The visit was the outcome of a pathbreaking initiative of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 to establish and enhance connections between the school and higher education systems.
The programme was attended by 50 school principals from Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Pondicherry, and Kerala. The attendees were selected from different segments of CBSE affiliated schools such as private schools, Kendriya Vidyalayas, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, Sainik schools, and other government schools.
The Director of IIMB, Prof. Rishikesha Krishnan inaugurated the event, along with Prof. Sushanta K Mishra, Chairperson of the Centre for Teaching and Learning.
Prof. Krishnan welcomed the participants and shared a quick glimpse of IIMB’s journey of becoming an Institution of eminence, while touching upon the need to bridge the gap between school and higher education. He also talked about the need to pay attention to emerging concerns such as managing students’ physical and mental health, learning in the digital age, etc.
The event was thoughtfully curated to give the participants an overview of the work carried out by different departments at IIMB. There were 8 sessions led by functional heads of different centres and departments, which were as follows:
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Sudha Rao, from the Academic Programmes office, walked the participants through all the programmes and courses offered at the institute.
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(Retd.) Col. Aravendan, IIMB’s Chief Administrative Officer, talked about various campus development activities executed under his supervision.
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Usha Ganesan and Vijayalakshmi Subramanian conducted an interactive session on digital learning initiatives.
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Lopamudra Dewan from the Centre for Teaching and Learning elaborated on the various teaching & learning-focused initiatives taken by the centre.
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Anand Ganesh, the COO of NSRCEL, shared his insights on the various entrepreneurial ventures that were funded and supported by NSRCEL.
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Rama Patnaik, Librarian at IIMB, highlighted the importance of libraries as an evolving space for learning.
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Utanka Sharma, the Head of Alumni Relations, shared how his team has been working towards building a strong alumni network to implement initiatives.
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S Parthasarathy, from the Executive Education Programme department, talked about the range of programmes and events his team organizes and the impact created through them.
Apart from the sessions, the programme also included a comprehensive campus tour for the participants, led by Shivakumar K.
On the second day of the event, Prof. U Dinesh Kumar, Dean (Faculty), also addressed the participants and touched upon the importance of case teaching methodology. The programme was concluded by Prof. Sushanta Kumar Mishra with a brainstorming session where he discussed key takeaways of the programme and possible ways in which IIMB can contribute to and collaborate with school ecosystems. He also shared his valuable insights on the role of an educator who especially go on to become School Heads and Leaders.
At the centre, Prof. Rishikesha Krishnan, Director, IIM Bangalore.
To his right, Prof. Sushanta Mishra, Chairperson, Centre for Teaching and Learning.