EDUCATION – ALUMNI SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP AT IIMA

Shared and Authored by Vardan Kabra (PGP 2004), Founder and Head of School- Fountainhead School

The Education Alumni Special Interest Group (ASIG) is a group of alumni and faculty of the institute with expertise and interest in the education space. Backed by the institute, the Education ASIG aims to foster collaboration among the IIMA community (faculty, students and alumni) and the wider world of practitioners in the Education space.

The Education ASIG kicked off on September 5 this year with a video call with the interested alumni. A WhatsApp group was made for collaboration and discussion afterwards, which now has 50+ members across batches from the 1970s to the most recent class of 2020. Vibrant discussions have been taking place on the impact of the National Education Policy, the pandemic, and policy issues related to education. 

The ASIG has also conducted three events till the date. The launch event in October was an engrossing discussion with more than 100 alumni on “Quality education for all” with Sridhar Rajagopalan of Educational Initiatives (PGP 1993). The Education ASIG then collaborated with the Technology and Data Analytics ASIG on two events related to EdTech: The first one was a panel discussion on “India K-12 Edtech: Hope, Hype, Happening” with four alumni with different expertise and the second event was a close group discussion with those interested in EdTech where a wide-ranging set of ideas were discussed. These events provided a forum for alumni and current students to learn from renowned people in the field of education It has also facilitated smaller interactions through the small group meeting and the WhatsApp group.

Being a new ASIG, the vision and aims are still being worked out but the Education ASIG hopes to connect and engage the alumni with the current students and faculty on education related issues such as the National Education Policy, EdTech, education for all. It is hoped that the ASIG will allow students and alumni to find and collaborate on opportunities in the field of education. The ASIG is open to all interested alumni who have an interest in the field of education as well as those who would like to take leadership in its activities.