The Education Committee of The Bengal Chamber conducted the 5th Annual Education Conclave − The Converging Educational Horizon on 19th November 2022, in Fairfield by Marriott. Mr. Shekhar Mehta, President, Rotary International 21−22, was the Opening Keynote Speaker. Dr. Subhas Sarkar, Hon'ble Minister of State for Education, Govt. of India, addressed the participants virtually. Padma Shri Professor Dr. Ajoy Kumar Ray, Director, JIS Institute of Advanced Studies and Research, Kolkata set the context of the Conclave while the Guest of Honour was Padma Bhushan Dr. Bikash Sinha, Former Director − Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics & Former Chairman − NIT Durgapur, & Homi Bhabha Chair Professor, Department of Atomic Energy, Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre.

The National Education Policy talks about the Reforms in School Curricula and Pedagogy, which aims for holistic development of learners by equipping them with the key 21st century skills, reduction in curricular content to enhance essential learning and critical thinking and greater focus on experiential learning. It also talks about the fact that Vocational education will start in schools from the 6th grade, and will include internships. The Annual Education Conclave 2022 of The Chamber was based on this aspect.

The various panel discussions were extremely interesting. The conclave had panel discussions on How Are Schools/ Colleges/Universities Preparing Children To Explore The New Horizons Of Education?, Different Perspectives on the New Horizons of Education, Role of Skilling in the New Educational Horizon and The Importance Of The Mental Wellbeing Of Students Through Meditation And Motivation. The speakers in the first panel were Professor (Dr.) Indranil Sen Gupta, Vice Chancellor, JIS University, Kolkata, Ms. Bratati Bhattacharyya, Secretary General & CEO, Shri Shikshayatan Foundation & Shri Shikshayatan School, Kolkata, Ms. Rupkatha Sarkar, Principal, La Martiniere For Girls and Ms. Joyita Majumder, Principal, Ruby Park Public School, Kolkata. This session was chaired by Mr. Sumit Das Gupta, Managing Director, Allcap Communications, Kolkata.

The speakers in the second panel were Prof. (Dr.) Ananda Mitra, Professor, Department of Communication, Wake Forest University, Prof. (Dr.) Pallab Banerji, Professor, Material Science Department, IIT Kharagpur, Dr. Jisnu Basu, Faculty Member, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics. This session was chaired by Prof. Dr. Anupam Basu, Director, NIT Durgapur.

The next panel on skilling was chaired by Prof. Dr. Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay, Vice Chancellor, SNU and the speakers were Prof. Dr. Anupam Basu, Director, NIT Durgapur, Prof. Saikat Maitra, Vice Chancellor, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology of West Bengal and Mr. Abhijit Chatterjee, Chairman & CEO, Ascensive Educare.

The last session which was on Mental Health was attended by students from various schools, colleges and universities. The students had an opportunity to interact with the esteemed panelists of the session Swami Sarvottamananda Maharaj, Vice Chancellor, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Dr. Rima Mukherjee, Senior Consultant Psychiatrist, Kolkata and Prof. Shuvendu Majumder, Principal, Calcutta Business School. This session was chaired by Prof Dr. Suman Mukerjee, Director General, The Bhawanipur Education Society College, Kolkata. Overall, it was a very successful conclave attended by a lot of participants. The conclave had extremely good media coverage as well.