“Citizen Contribution In primary Education Coupled With Policy To Shape Nation’s Growth Trajectory” Says, Rukmini Banerji, CEO, Pratham Education Foundation

“A deep focus on primary and pre-primary education has become a key focus area for India and a lot depends on how much each one of us, as citizens of the country, can contribute to help children catch up and progress in terms of education. The government has devised the New Education Policy and has adopted several other important initiatives. Now, all of us need to pitch in and play a decisive role in transforming India,” pointed out Rukmini Banerji, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Pratham Education Foundation, while delivering the Foundation Day lecture on, ‘Opportunities & Challenges for Education in Today’s India’, during IIM Bangalore’s 51 Foundation Day celebrations. The entire IIMB community, comprising faculty, former faculty, alumni, students and staff, were part of the event.

Rukmini Banerji was trained as an economist at St. Stephen’s College (Delhi) and the Delhi School of Economics. She was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and completed her PhD at the University of Chicago. She has worked extensively for Pratham’s education programmes in rural and urban areas. Along with her teams, she has played a major role in designing and supporting large-scale partnerships with state governments in India, for improving children’s learning outcomes. In 2008, she received the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Shiksha Puraskar conferred by the Government of Bihar, India, being the first recipient of this award. In 2021, she was awarded the Yidan Prize for Education Development. She writes frequently on education in both Hindi and English dailies in India.

Schooling & Learning: spot the difference

During her address, she shared her experiences over the last 30 years in her mission towards boosting primary and pre-primary education in the country. She quoted data from community level and national-level assessments, including the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), which was started in 2005. “We currently have 250 million school going children and school enrolments are rising consistently, even post-Covid. What is needed now is more value addition to accelerate the children’s academic progress, in terms of reading ability and knowledge of numbers.”

“To address some of the challenges, the Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) approach was adopted, leading to better outcomes in learning.” Calling NEP as an opportunity to develop a continuum approach and enhance skills, she added, “The NEP recognises the importance of early childhood education and aims for a strong foundation of children’s development and learning. The policy clearly outlines the foundational literacy-numeracy goals for the country. All India figures also suggest that there has been gradual improvement from 2014 to 2018, in both reading and basic maths, although interrupted by Covid. The NIPUN Bharat mission in states is also working hard towards these goals. With sustained efforts, the nation is sure to realise all these goals”, she observed.

“The highest priority of the education system will be to achieve universal foundational literacy and numeracy in primary schools by 2025. What we do in the next five years will decide India’s destiny for the rest of the century.”

Her engaging address was followed by an interactive session with the audience, moderated by Sourav Mukherji, Dean, Alumni Relations & Development and faculty of the Organisational Behavior & Human Resources Management area of IIMB. Discussing the role and impact of technology in primary education, she said that along with technology (which she said became a crucial driver of education during Covid), people-to-people exchange is just as essential.

Long Service Awards: for faculty and staff and alumni 

The Foundation Day celebrations also saw Long Service Awards being presented to faculty, including the 10 years’ and 20 years’ awards.

Long Service Awards were also presented to non-teaching IIMB staff, which included the 10 years’, 20 years’ and the 30 years’ service awards. The awards were presented by Malavika R Harita.

Alumni Service Awards

The annual Alumni Service Award (ASA) was launched in 2023 as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations, to recognise past graduates who have made impactful and enduring contributions to the institute, the IIMB Alumni Association (IIMBAA) and the alumni ecosystem. The award winners are selected from a nominated shortlist by a committee comprising faculty members and alumni. This year, the awardees were felicitated on the 51 Foundation Day of IIMB. The recipients of the Alumni Service Awards 2024 are C P Madhusudan, PGP 1993; Pawan Sachdeva, PGP 1996 and Shashank Kothi, PGP 2000. The awards were presented by Harish Mittal, President, IIMB Alumni Association (IIMBAA). SD Aravendan, CAO, IIMB, delivered the welcome address and the vote of thanks.

Staff Recreation Club Events

On the eve of IIMB's 51 Foundation Day, on October 25, the institute’s Staff Recreation Club (SRC) hosted a cultural programme showcasing an array of performances by staff, their children and students of IIMB. That morning, the SRC Sports Activities Prize and Memento Distribution Ceremony was also held. A host of sporting events were conducted by SRC from September 27, onwards.

Awards & Scholarships

The morning of October 25, also saw the Young Achievement Awards being presented, as well as awards for the Anti-Ragging Poster Making competition for the students and the Hindi Fortnight 2024 competition.

Presentation of PGP Scholarship awards (PGP 2001 and PGP 2008) and Raghuvir Kothi Memorial Scholarship took place, as well.