'Social orientation key to good education'

Social orientation is key to quality education in a student’s life. But this is missing in the current education system, said Dileep Ranjekar, chief executive officer of Azim Premji Foundation.

Addressing a gathering at the third edition of the annual XSEED ‘School of Tomorrow’ conference 2011 here on Friday, he said schools should make an effort to expose children to realities of life and make them aware about environment and other issues including technology.

“Technology should be integrated in the education system to reach a wider audience with an affordable cost.”

According to him, India’s literacy rate is just 65 per cent, much lower than global average, and 44 per cent of children below the age of five years suffer from malnutrition.

Technology is a powerful tool and makes our life easy, he said, adding in the current education system, most students do not get basic education due to lack of proper infrastructure.

Another important factor is imparting leadership quality among the students at the grassroots level.

The third edition of the annual XSEED ‘School of Tomorrow’ conference 2011 saw educationists stress on the need for improving quality in education through investments in better teaching methods and processes. It was organised by iDiscovery Education, an education innovation company focused on learning and leadership.

The event saw participation from over 1,500 school heads and business leaders across four metros - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad.