On May 25, Vidya Vanam Sr. Sec. School, Anaikatti, hosted its fifth National Conference on Education on the theme, Liberal Arts in Education. Some of the topics explored were: What does an education in the Liberal Arts offer? Why should Social Sciences be introduced early in education? How does one connect Sustainability and Liberal Arts Education? How can the myth that a Liberal Arts education cannot lead to a career be deconstructed.
The event was inaugurated by Rohit Dhankar, founder of Digantar Shikhsa Evam Khel Khud Samiti Jaipur. In his keynote address on Liberal Arts Education: The Way Forward, he spoke about how education is multidisciplinary in nature. Historians A.R. Venkatachalapathy and Abhilash Malayil spoke on the need to introduce Social Sciences early in education and how social sciences have always been looked at from the lens of utility and how teachers can handle contentious issues such as class, caste and gender in the classroom.
A panel discussion on the role of Fine Arts in education saw veteran koothu artiste Purisai Kannappa Sambandan, musician Sangeetha Sivakumar, artist Vasudha Thozhur and theatreperson Abhilash Pillai discuss how fine arts can help develop imagination, understand and address social issues, the issue of free play and structure in art and the need to include all kinds of art in education.
The final session on day one was Teaching History and Political Science in these contentious times. Sowmya Dechamma C.C., Professor, Centre for Comparative Literature, University of Hyderabad, and Huzaifa Omair Siddiqi, Assistant Professor of English, Ashoka University, spoke about the difference between myth and history and the interpretation of facts.
On the second day, Pankaj Sekhsaria, environmental researcher and Associate Professor at the Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas (CTARA), IIT-Bombay, spoke on connecting sustainability to Liberal Arts Education.
A session on Languages and Liberal Arts saw historian A.R. Venkatachalapathy, Hindi poet and professor Apoorvanand, Telugu poet and professor Challapalli Swarooparani and author and academic Sachidananda Mohanty discuss vital issues such as the hierarchy of languages and the importance and interpretation of the mother tongue.
The final session was Deconstructing the myth that a Liberal Arts education does not lead to a career. Aruna Sankaranarayanan, visiting faculty at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru; Renuka Rajaratnam, Dean, Research & International Programmes at Stella Maris College; and Balaji Venkitaramasubramanian, HR Director at Dormakaba, and educator Anna Chandy spoke about mindsets when it comes to selecting careers and how creating more career options is the need of the hour.
Three workshops were also part of the event: Teaching Liberal Arts by Anna Chandy, Art in Maths by Praveen S. and Music and Liberal Arts by Sangeetha Sivakumar. The audience members were teachers and educators from schools, colleges and non-governmental organisations from across the country.