SCERT’s Two-Day Workshop On Sustainable Development Goals Concludes

Experts deliberate on NCERT’s proposed questionnaire on SDG 4.7

Farooq Shah

SRINAGAR: A two-day workshop on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.7 organized by the Education Planning Monitoring and Management (EPM&M) wing of the State Institute of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Kashmir Division, concluded here on Saturday.

The SCERT had invited scores of academicians for different DIETs, law officers and former civil servants to deliberate on a proposed questionnaire framed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi.

Underlining the objectives of the workshop, Director SCERT, Prof Veena Pandita said the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has been tasked with the implementation of the SDG 4.7 and has sought a status report from all the States/UTs of India in this regard.

“There are 17 SDGs which require an urgent call for action by all countries including India, the immediate target of achieving these goals being 2030,” she said. “Goal 4, particularly of these 17 SDGs, aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”

Prof Pandita hailed the efforts of former Director School Education, Mohammad Rafi, who, with his knowledge and expertise, helped the experts in arriving at right conclusions during the deliberations on the subject.

Describing the workshop a ‘lively’ event, Rafi appreciated the perspectives presented by the experts.

“Exchange of thought, of insights and experiences helped a closer appreciation and an informed assessment of challenges in promoting SDGs across cultures and communities,” he said. “The mainstay of inter-session remained legal and policy framework, approaches and interventions, tools and techniques, research methodologies etc. that can potentially help towards a more effective handling of SDGs.”

Dr Fayaz Ahmad Bhat, Nodal Officer, School Leadership Academy (SLA), SCERT, set the perspective of the workshop by sharing a useful presentation on SDG 4.7 underlining its many different operational areas.

Earlier, Dr Jan Mudasir Gul, Academic Officer, Educational Research Survey and Assessment (ERSA) wing of the SCERT distributed topics and the questionnaire among the groups formed during the workshop. He provided the guidelines for the presentations and submitting of responses to the questionnaires by the group leaders.