Young people on the threshold of joining the workforce have to be trained in the “fundamentals” so they can cope with the changes that AI is bringing to workplaces, the head of an undergraduate college said, addressing high school students at an education conclave on Wednesday.
“The workplace is changing because of AI. As educators in the business of creating a workforce, it is imperative to customise education accordingly. The batch that will come now will be ready to join the workforce in four or five years; by then, there will be even more changes. Are we going to train them for what the world will exactly be, or are we going to train in the fundamentals so that they can cope and deal with the change?” said Saugata Banerjee, director, JD Birla Institute.
On Wednesday, Banerjee participated in an interactive session at SIP abacus presents admissiontree.in Conversations 2025, powered by Education Initiative and co-sponsored by JD Birla Institute and Vidyamandir Society.
The chief guest for the evening was Isro chairman, V. Narayanan. He engaged the audience for close to 50 minutes.
Narayanan spoke about India’s advancement in space, its satellites and plans to have its space station by 2035.
Narayanan urged his audience to let students do what they like. “What you are doing is not important; how you are doing is,” he said.
He insisted on more industry-academia interface in the Indian education system and skill development.
“You all know about Chandrayaan 3, but how many of you know about its outcomes. We discovered eight kinds of minerals, seismic activities... that should reach our school and college students,” said Narayanan.
Using technology, students of Classes IX to XII came up with projects under the theme Futurescape 2047 and 21 of the 50 were short-listed by
Birla Industrial and Technological Museum.
Students of DAV Model School made IoT-based safety helmets for miners. The helmets use sensors and IoT (Internet of Things) to detect harmful gases, sense sudden shifts, and send alerts to the control room for rapid rescue.
Students of St Sebastian School constructed a fire-fighting robot that detects flames and activates a water pump.
The team that came first was the girls from Shri Shikshayatan School, followed by Saini International School, Maheshtala, in second position, and Young Horizons School in third position.
Narayanan announced that all 15 students would get to witness a rocket launch. “You will be our guest,” Narayanan told the winners at the packed hall at ITC Sonar.
Journalist Radhika Bajaj moderated the session with the Isro chief.
“The conclave is something which makes the students think, and that tickles their creativity. Once creativity is tickled, more questions come, and with it, curiosity that leads to innovation,” said Brigadier (retd) V.N. Chaturvedi, secretary-general of Vidya Mandir Society.
Astrophysicist Debiprosad Duari, in his keynote address on Futurescape 2047, said science, technology, and innovation will be the foundation of a self-reliant India.
“2047, India will be celebrating 100 years of Independence. The goal is to transform India into a developed, knowledge-driven and technology-powered nation,” said Duari.