RONO HILLS, 1 Nov: A two-day capacity building workshop on ‘Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurship (IDE)’, organised at Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU), concluded here on Saturday.
The workshop was held under the aegis of the Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSEL), Ministry of Education, Government of India, in collaboration with the AICTE, NCERT, MoE’s Innovation Cell, PM SHRI School Innovation Council, and the Wadhwani Foundation.
The programme aimed to equip educators, administrators, and officials of the Education Department with practical skills in design, thinking, innovation, and entrepreneurship, in accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The inaugural session was attended by Deputy State Coordinator Sadung Gyadi, RGU VC Prof SK Nayak, Registrar Dr NT Rikam, Finance Officer ProfOtem Padung, RGU IQAC Director Prof Utpal Bhattacharjee, and RGU Computer Science and Engineering HoD Dr Firos A, among others.
Welcoming the participants, RGU nodal centre coordinator Dr Sikdar Md Sultan Askari emphasised the importance of fostering innovation and problem-solving in the school education framework.
Gyadi in his inaugural address commended the Ministry of Education’s initiative and urged the participants to become “change agents” forinnovation at the grassroots, while Prof Nayak reaffirmed the university’s commitment to nurturing creativity, critical thinking, and entrepreneurial thinking among students and educators.
Day 1 featured engaging sessions by innovator from Assam and Padma Shri awardee Dr Uddhab Bharali, Sarim Moin and Nandajit Rabha from the AICTE Innovation Cell, and Dr Ruchi Gautam Pant and Gauri Gopinath from the Wadhwani Foundation, New Delhi. The sessions explored ‘Why innovation & entrepreneurship in schools’, ‘Human-centred problem solving’, and ‘Design thinking: Case studies and group work’. The participants also engaged in hands-on group exercises to identify local problems and provide prototype innovative solutions.
The day concluded with an ‘Innovation in action’ visit to the Centre of Excellence, where the participants witnessed live demonstrations of student-led innovation projects and appreciated RGU’s ongoing efforts to promote the innovation culture on campus.
Day 2 featured panel discussions, reflective sessions, and workshops on ‘Innovation and entrepreneurship demystified: What it really means for schools’,’Guiding school innovations to real ventures’,and ‘Building innovation ecosystems – Connecting schools to the world’. The participants developed their 90-day action plans for implementing innovative projects in their respective districts and institutions.
The workshop saw the participation of district nodal officers, representatives of DDSE offices, DIETs, and SCERT, representing almost all districts of Arunachal Pradesh.
