Twenty-eight G-20 member countries, guest countries, and invited organizations — comprising OECD, UNESCO and UNICEF — will be participating in the three-day event, consisting of seminars, exhibition, and working group meetings at Amritsar from Wednesday.
More than 55 delegates, who received a rousing welcome on Monday amidst dhol beats and bhangra, will be attending the second G20 Education Working Group (EdWG) meeting — organized by the Ministry of Education. The meeting will focus on furthering the discussion held during the 1st G20 Education Working Group meeting held in Chennai from February 1 to 2.
The officials maintained that the state and district administration is fully geared to host the G20 meet and all arrangements, including those related to security, have been put in place.
Amritsar is set to host several G20 events. The main event on education is scheduled to be held from March 15-17. Besides, the L20 meeting on Labour is scheduled for March 19-20.
The state Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav, who visited the holy city of Amritsar on Tuesday, reviewed the security arrangements and held meetings with senior officials. “I visited Amritsar today to review security arrangements and hold meeting with all stakeholders who are working to make the event successful, keeping in mind safety and security of all,” said DGP Yadav in a tweet, adding, “@PunjabPoliceInd is fully geared up for the #G20 programmes at #Amritsar”.
The Indian Institute of Technology-Ropar is also set to host the second Education Working group meeting on ‘Strengthening Research and Innovation Through Collaboration’ between March 15 and 17 at Khalsa College, with collaborative input from higher education institutions such as IISc Bengaluru, IIM Amritsar, and TISS Mumbai.
The seminar on Wednesday will begin with a presentation from Govindan Rangarajan, Director, IISc Bengaluru, on 'Research initiatives in G20 countries' with inputs provided by G20 members and invitee countries in the seminar.
The seminar will also include two panel discussions, one on 'Research in emerging and disruptive technologies, Industry – 4.0' to be chaired by Rajeev Ahuja, Director, IIT Ropar, and second one on 'Research in sustainable development goals' to be chaired by Shalini Bharat, director, TISS Mumbai. The panel discussion will see participation from France, Britain, Australia, India, Oman, South Africa, Unicef, China and the UAE.
A multimedia exhibition will also be organized on the sidelines of the seminar that will provide a physical format to the participating countries along with industry, academia to present the best practices in research, innovation, collaboration and partnership.
There will be 90-plus stalls at the exhibition with key participation from the UAE, China and Saudi Arabia, NSDC, NCERT, National Book Trust, Indian Knowledge Systems Division (IKS) and several start-up initiatives.
The exhibition will also be open to local institutions, students, academicians and researchers from March 16 to 17. The two-day meeting on March 16 and 17 will provide a platform to deliberate on the four priority areas — that is ensuring foundational literacy and numeracy, especially in context of blended learning; making tech-enabled learning more inclusive, qualitative and collaborative at every level; building capacities, promoting lifelong learning in the context of future of work; and strengthening research, promoting innovation through richer collaboration and partnerships.
The meetings will be chaired by Union Higher Education Secretary K Sanjay Murthy, with Secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy, Sanjay Kumar, and Secretary of the Ministry of Skill Development Atul Kumar Tiwari as Alternate Chairs.
The event will focus on the identification of relevant policies and best practices for research and innovations from the deliberations of G20 member-nations.
More than 55 delegates are expected to attend the meeting and seminar, where they will share their best practices for strengthening research and innovation. The outcomes of the four Education Working Group meetings will be essential to draft the final declaration document to be shared at the concluding ministerial meeting, an official statement said.
The document will serve as a guideline for the development of numerous educational and employment opportunities. The meetings will also give participating countries and organizations the opportunity to strengthen educational cooperation and discuss new collaboration opportunities.
Delegates will be taken to the Golden Temple on March 17 as part of the excursion. On the sidelines of the G20 meetings, cultural events are also planned to highlight Punjab's vibrant culture.
