Ǫuest Alliance, a not-for-profit trust that equips youth in India with 21st Century skills by enabling self-learning, brought together key players in the CSR and social impact sector for a dialogue on the essential skills and mindsets that young people in India will need to navigate a VUCA world.
Hosted in collaboration with social impact consulting firm Sattva Consulting, the fourth edition of the Ǫuest Funder Co-Lab was held under the aegis of the Annual Ǫuest 2 Learn Summit, and brought together representatives from industry leaders like IBM,
J.P. Morgan, H.T. Parekh foundation, Cap Gemini and Dasra. “The Covid-19 pandemic precipitated the shift to online and digital ways of working across almost all industries. Now, more than ever, the sector needs to work together to pivot our learning and skilling ecosystems to drive STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education and digital literacy among young people, while simultaneously nurturing environments that inculcate STEM mindsets and 21st Century skill sets,” said Aakash Sethi, CEO, Ǫuest Alliance.
The session was designed to examine trends, gaps and opportunities in STEM education, featuring a panel discussion on aligning STEM education with the National Education Policy (NEP). The panel featured key voices from government functionaries including B. Kalyan Chakravarthy, I.A.S. Principal Secretary, Education, Govt. of Assam; Shri Raghuram R Iyer, Additional Secretary, School and Mass Education Department, Director, Directorate of Secondary Education and Additional Director General, OSEPA, Govt. of Odisha and Dr. Nisha Mendiratta, Adviser and Scientist “G” & Head, Women In Science & Engineering (WISE) – KIRAN Division & Head, Climate Change Programme (CCP) Division, Department of Science and Technology Govt. of India.
The pressing need for concerted CSR investment in creating gender equity in STEM education and careers emerged as a key point of discussion, with a particular focus on shifting the paradigm away from STEM education and towards a STEM mindset.
“There is an urgent need to go beyond teaching STEM as siloed subjects with little no real life application, and shift learning to build STEM mindsets. This is especially necessary for girls to be able to access greater gender equity. For this, we need a systems change approach, with key stakeholders like educators, parents, civil society, the government, and corporate CSR working in collaborative partnership models to real change on ground,” said Neha Parti, Director, Schools, Ǫuest Alliance.
