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Seminar on ancient Indian education system

National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR), Kolkata (an autonomous Institute established by MHRD, GOI in 1965) recently organised a two-day national seminar on ‘Ancient Indian Education system’ on the occasion of Maulana Azad’s birth anniversary, celebrated as National Education Day on November 11. The seminar was inaugurated by Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', Education Minister, Government of India. The programme started under the  leadership of Prof. Debi Prasad Mishra, Director NITTTR, Kolkata. Harshavardhan Neotia, Chairman BOG, NITTTR, Kolkata welcomed the august gathering.

Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' elaborated on the glorious history of the Indian education system and emphasised on the need to pass on that heritage to the present generations.  He also appreciated the efforts of NITTTR, Kolkata for having organised this seminar in line with the requirements of NEP 2020.

Bhushan Patwardhan, Vice Chairman of UGC, New Delhi, highlighted the importance of the seminar calling it the need of the hour. He also emphasised upon the major initiatives being taken by the UGC to improve the quality of higher education in the country.

The inaugural ceremony was followed by an illuminating talk by the Director NITTTR, Kolkata, Prof. Debi Prasad Mishra who covered the entire gamut of the ancient Indian education system emphasising upon the great seats of learning, like the Nalanda and Takshashila universities. The next speaker, Prof. Surendra Kumar, former Vice Chancellor of Kangri Gurukula University, Haridwar spoke about the education system in the Vedic period. This was followed by an invited talk on a comparative study of ancient Indian and European education systems by Prof. Aniruddha Burmon, Associate Professor & Head of the Department, B. Ed Section, University BT & Evening College, Cooch Behar, West Bengal.

On the second day of the seminar, there were three invited talks. Prof. Dhanusdhari Misra, Chairman, BOG, IIT Dhanbad described the prevalence of vocational education in ancient India. Prof. Sudipto Bhattacharya, VIT Business School, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu reiterated the need for revamping the pupil-teacher relationship - taking lessons from our ancient system of education. Finally, Prof. Sriyankar Acharyya, Department of Computer Science & Engg, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, W.B. vividly highlighted on Para Vidya and Apara Vidya in the ancient Indian education system.