A seminar on “Education and Skills Development” was jointly organized by Canada India Foundation, Seneca College and PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry at PHD House. President of Seneca College, Mr David Agnew who visited India as part of a Canadian delegation led by Canada India Foundation, an organization actively involved in fostering stronger bilateral relations between Canada and India, welcomed participants in his key note address and set up the context of the session with reference to the gap in school level education and the drop in number of University graduates. “High school level education is not enough when the demand is for highly skilled people”, he said. Offering education that matches skills and technology, essential for the professional world and adopting an academic approach to increase experiential learning opportunities is the focus both in Canada and India, stated Mr Agnew.
Dr Jitendra K Das, Director, FORE School of Management, New Delhi, touched upon the proliferation which happens in education system in India from primary education level to higher education level and said, “The Government has a big role to play here as a large chunk of the Indian population is either from below-the-poverty-line (BPL) or from lower economic class”.
Dr. Das who has been the founder Dean of IIM Lucknow, (Noida Campus), further stated that while education is a fundamental right for all and the Government acknowledges the same, it is unable to offer enough of infrastructure and facilities for this section of the society.
Also present were Mr Pankaj Dave, Co- convener, Canada India Foundation; Mr Prashant Srivastava, Director, South Asia, Seneca College ; Dr S.K. Salwan, Vice President Apeejay Stya University; Dr Jatinder Singh, Director, PHD Chamber; Ms Neeta Bali, Director and Head of G D Goenka World School, Gurugram; Prof KS Gopinath Narayan, IA&AS, faculty National Institute of Finance Management among others.