Education should encompass everything and not confined to classroom activity.  However, the process of education does not only stop with curriculum and other school activities. If we want, to compete successfully in an era of rapid economic and technological change, we require not only classroom teaching but also innovative skills & extra curriculum for getting new jobs, as the structures of economies and occupations change.

Understanding this need, CII Madurai Zone along with CII Institute of Quality, Bangalore organized School Excellence Conclave – “Thinking beyond Classrooms” on 7th September 09. Speaking at the conclave, on the theme “Thinking beyond Classrooms”, Mr T Srinivasan, Member – Affirmative Action & Skill Development Panel and Vice President- Personnel, T V Sundram Iyengar and sons Ltd said that the objective of the conclave was to bring in more innovative ideas to enhance the quality of education provided by educational institutions in southern districts.

Dr. Senthil Kumaran - CII Institute of Quality addressing the gathering during the session Overview of School Education Past, Present and Future

Ms. Rajani Ratnamala, Chief Education Officer, Government of Tamil Nadu shared the initiatives taken by the government to get and retain children in the schools. She further provided statistics on various TN government institutions. The next session by ATB Bose, Founder Secretary, Ramanujan Museum & Math Education Centre and Anthony Antic, GM, School Learning Solutions, NIIT Ltd shared how Maths and computers can be leveraged for bringing outside world inside the classrooms. The next session of “Clustering for Enhancing Institutional Learning” showcased the journey taken by a Government and a private School at Chennai as part of Kuruvila Jacob Initiative for promoting excellence in School Education which received applause and appreciation from the participants. 

Panel discussion on “Path Forward for School Education” shared thoughts on creation of common road map for Madurai.

Mr Bharath K S, Chairman – CII Madurai Zone & Chairman and Managing Director, Aparajitha Corporate Services P Ltd said that the Macaulay’s education system was designed with the purpose for new life. He also said that application of knowledge has become more important than knowledge itself.

Addressing the valedictory session, Mr Thangam Thennarasu, Minister for School Education, Government of Tamil Nadu said that education should be upgraded in the course of time equipping children with life skills along with academic skills. The teachers have to keep their learning up to date as, in the modern days, children have other options to learn and at times they know more than teachers, he said.

He added that schools should think beyond classrooms and make that happen in the classrooms and also should think beyond the textbooks. He also said that classroom is the base where change and renovation should take place. 160 Principals and Teachers from various schools in and around Madurai got benefited from this conclave.

Speakers at the conclave

Ms Rajini Rathanamala, Chief Educational Officer, Dr Aravind Srinivasan, Vice Chairman, CII Madurai Zone and Administrator, Aravind Eye Hospitals, Mr V Krishnamurthy, Past Chairman, CII Madurai Zone and Head – Works, Lanxess India P Ltd , Dr Senthil Kumaran, Senior Counsellor , CII Institute of Quality, Mr Shyam Prakash Gupta ,Member – Affirmative Action & Skill Development Panel, CII Madurai Zone & Director, G D Textiles Ltd, Mr A T B Bose, Founder Secretary, Ramanujan Museum & Math Education Centre, Mr Anthony Antic, General Manager – School Learning Solutions, NIIT Ltd , Mr Senthil Vinodh, Member, Skill Development Panel , CII Madurai Zone & Director – Operations, HDL Solutions P Ltd , Mr A Rajkumar, Principal , Corporation School, Sharma Nagar, Chennai , Ms Anna George, Principal, AMM Matriculation School, Chennai , Dr V Abhaikumar , Principal , Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Mr R Srinivasan, Director, TVS Schools were the eminent speakers.