Chief guest Bratya Basu said imparting equal knowledge is not the job of a single ministry officer but the responsibility of all citizens. Source : Soham Naha
The Paschim Banga Samagra Shiksha Mission (PBSSM), Government of West Bengal has collaborated with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta, with the aim to impart leadership development training to 1,313 head teachers of government and aided schools across several batches.
The programme was announced at an event on December 18 at the institute auditorium.
The announcement ceremony was attended by Bratya Basu, principal secretary, School Education Department, who was also the chief guest for the event; Manish Jain, IAS, State project director, Paschim Banga Samagra Shiksha Mission (PBSSM); Subhra Chakrabarti, IAS; Uttam Kumar Sarkar, director, IIM Calcutta; Manish Thakur, dean (NI & ER) and Bhaskar Chakrabarti, dean (Academic).
The leadership programme will be directed by IIM Calcutta professors R. Rajesh Babu and Chetan Joshi.
Sarkar, the director of the institute, while inaugurating the event said that the initiative taken by PBSSM is a need of the hour. “This is a timely and a necessary step in the right direction. IIM Calcutta is honoured to work with the West Bengal Government in national building and striving for the sustainable development goal and it’s mission for universal education,” he said.
Basu added in, “Our ancestors used to say that one Shakespeare is more useful to a country than a thousand swords. This difference in knowing a language and not knowing a language has led us to a global crisis. So imparting equal knowledge to all is not a job for a single ministry officer but a responsibility for all citizens. So this step marks the beginning of us coming together and imparting knowledge and skills to all without considering individual differences. As more and more people come together for this cause, universal education can be achieved.”
According to Babu, professor and joint programme director, the role of educational heads in realising the goal of fundamental right to education is paramount. Their role is critical in transforming the life and experience of their students, fellow teachers and the community. Empowering and motivating the head of the schools to take the lead and be the change agent for their school is the key focus of this leadership development programme.