In an educational journey of a child, the schools and universities should be in sync, says Prof Raj S Dhankar

To improve the quality of education, the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has emphasised providing training to teachers for their professional development. This will involve the skills and knowledge they need to effectively teach and support their students. For that, the policy has emphasised the close partnership of schools and universities for the effective training of teachers before starting in the academic system.  

Keeping this in mind, the School of Education of Apeejay Stya University (ASU), Gurugram, organised the ‘School Principals’ Meet’ to foster a university-school partnership. A large number of principals from the government, as well as private schools, attended the event.

The programme started with a brief introduction about the university by Dr Afiya Jamal, Assistant professor in the School of Education . It was followed by the welcome address by Professor Raj S Dhankar, vice-chancellor of ASU.

While welcoming the guests, Professor Dhankar said, “Schools are equal partners with the universities in the educational journey of a child and there should be a close partnership between both of them, which has also been advocated by the NEP 2020.” 

Views about the present status of education in Haryana, the training needs of the teachers in their schools in the light of NEP 2020 and National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023 and the proposed partnership between ASU and the schools were discussed.

To showcase the academic programmes held at ASU, a short video was screened on the projector. It was followed by a presentation on the university scholarships and their benefits. Towards the end of the event, the guests were honoured with mementoes by Dr Vijay Kumar and the Counsellors. The event concluded with a vote of thanks by Vijay Kumar, Associate Professor at the School of Education.

He said, “This was the first such event on the campus, in which 13 schools participated. Overall, the programme was fruitful. Based on the event’s learning, we will soon organise another improvised programme on a larger scale. We are thankful to all the principals, deans and HoDs who came and contributed to its success.”