ITIHAAS organises Summit for Leaders in Heritage Education 2011 with Ministry of Culture

Press Release

New Delhi

September 29, 2011

ITIHAAS organises Summit for Leaders in Heritage Education 2011 with Ministry of Culture

"Knowledge of the past and the Curriculum of Tomorrow" sees deliberations over the day
Around 130 participants - including experts on Education, Heritage, Archaeology Culture & Theater in education

The ITIHAAS Summit for Leaders in Heritage Education 2011: "Knowledge of the past and the Curriculum of Tomorrow" with the Ministry of Culture took place with the participation of around 130 people including leading academicians, educators (curriculum, pedagogy) and those active in the field of heritage preservation (tangible and intangible).

ITIHAAS (Indian Traditions and Heritage Society) is a Delhi based education trust active in the field of heritage education. The ITIHAAS summit brought together School Principals, Policy makers, Educationists and the Corporate sector on the same platform. ITIHAAS proposes to bring out a research paper stating facts and highlights of the forum, conclusions reached and issues that still persist, based on the summit shortly.

The ITIHAAS Summit also witnessed representation from the senior level policymakers - from Ministry of Culture, Archaeological Survey of India, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML), Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, JodoGyan, National Handicrafts & Handlooms Museum (Crafts Museum), Anant Theater, Katha and more than 50 schools.

Experts from various fields ranging from Education to Archaeology, sustainable architecture to restoration etc. shared their views on the need and relevance of Heritage Education. The Summit began with a welcome address by Ms. Smita Vats, Founder -Director, ITIHAAS.

The first session of ITIHAAS Summit was on Heritage & Citizenship and had a panel discussion with Ms. Geeta Chandran, Founder Director, Natya Vriksha and Member NCERT's Steering Group to frame cultural components in CBSE, Mr. Aman Nath, Co-Founder, Neemrana Hotels, Mr. Sanjay Prakash, Director, SHiFt (Studio for Habitat Futures - a leading architectural design company that works on sustainable building solutions) and Mr. K K Mohammad, Superintending Archaeologist, Delhi Circle, Archaeological Survey of India. The moderator for the session was Mr. R. Sreenivasan, an educationist and an enthusiast for photography and classical dance forms.

This was followed by a keynote address by Prof. Yash Pal, Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, highlighting "Challenges and opportunities for Indian Education system". Post the address, there was a special presentation by Shri K K Mohammad. It depicted the work undertaken by the ASI to restore Bateshwar Temple, Madhya Pradesh with the participation of the community.

The second session of ITIHAAS Summit 2011 focused on the academic aspect : Teachers - Breaking the mind set. This began with a lecture demonstration by Ms. Maya K. Rao, Facilitator, Theatre in Education, National School of Drama on personalising the use of Theatre in education. This was followed by a panel discussion. The panelists included Ms. Rao, Ms. Kavita Anand, Executive Director, Shishuvan, who talked about the democracy in education and Ms. Monika Gupta, Assistant Professor, D El.Ed. University of Delhi, who elaborated on avoiding of compartmentalisation of education in distinct subject. The session was moderated by Prof. Poonam Batra, Professor, MACESE, Department of Education, University of Delhi, who highlighted ITIHAAS's contribution in achieving many of these objectives.

The final session of ITIHAAS Summit 2011 was on Curriculum - Breaking the boundaries and here the panelists included Mr. Vinod Raina, Physicist, Member of Drafting Committee, RTE and Founder Member, EKLAVYA; Ms. Akhila Sivadas, Founder, Executive Director, CFAR(Centre for Advocacy & Research) and Mr. Subir Shukla, Senior Educationist and Educational Quality Advisor - SSA(Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan). The session was moderated by Mr. Sunil Batra, Teacher Facilitator and Educationist.

ITIHAAS summit 2011 aimed at connecting the paradigms of heritage and education. ITIHAAS Summit 2011 has taken forward the discussion around learning outside the classroom, activity based and multidisciplinary approach to learning. The summit explored the connections between good citizenship and an understanding of the importance of innovative teaching practices as well as not being bound down by the curriculum alone. It also explored how the dynamic combination of a vibrant curriculum and a creative approach to heritage education can create good citizenship.

The Summit opened up newer vistas in heritage education and focused on the need to delve deeper into heritage education to bring out sustainable principles of life. The fact that educators need to focus on the depth of the tangible & intangible resources that are available and make it into a robust heritage education module to inculcate a sense of "belonging" with the heritage of the country was brought home.

ITIHAAS began its operations in 2004 to reconnect the young Indians to their heritage. ITIHAAS was one of the very few organizations, who understood the need to establish a link between the heritage and the Generation now. As it enters its eighth year of pioneering work in Heritage Education, ITIHAAS has the support of over a hundred schools in Delhi-NCR and other parts of the country and walks more than 50,000 children each year. Through all its initiatives, ITIHAAS has been able to reach out to over 500,000 students.

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