The Inauguration of the International Baccalaureate Educator Certificate programme and the three-day National Seminar on Education: System, Practices, and Research was held in Christ (Deemed to be University), Bangalore. The program was hosted by the School of Education in collaboration with the Centre for Education Beyond Curriculum at Fourth Block KE auditorium on the 22 August 2019.

      Dr. Jose Cherian, Head of Department , School of Education , CHRIST (Deemed to be University), delivered the welcome address to the gathering followed by Dr. Fr. Abraham V M, the Vice-Chancellor, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) who delivered the Inaugural speech on the benefits of becoming an IB educator and the importance of having international-mindedness in the current age.
       The department was overwhelmed to have Ms. Seetha Murthy, President, Association of Heads of IB World School India as the Chief Guest for the programme. She addressed the gathering on the ‘Evolution of Education Systems and Practices in Schools’.

 Ms. Murthy took the audience through the role of schools and teachers through different ages in history. She also elaborated on the different school models available in India including the exam-centric model, the facilities and academics model, and the literacy model. Ms. Seetha Murthy, at the end of her interaction with the audience left with a strong rather an inspiring thought, that instilled in the audience the will to seek for change and to be better educator- “A ship in harbour is safe but that’s not what ships are meant for.”

       A remarkable Panel Discussion on ‘Emerging trends in the school system: IB perspective’ kept the audience engaged post the inaugural ceremony. The panellists included Mr. Rohan Agarwal, Director,
Redbridge International Academy who spoke on ‘The Core Elements of IBDP Curriculum’; Ms. Sailaja Vittaldev, Principal, Silver Oaks School addressed the topic on ‘Pedagogy in IB Schools; Ms. Sarojini Rao, Principal of Indus International School spoke on ‘Assessment Practices in IB School’ and the moderator of the discussion was Dr. Moses Satralkar , Head of Business Development and Academic Placements ,Redbridge International Academy and Associate Director,Global Challenges Forum , Switzerland . The panellists broadly addressed various aspects of the scope, growth, and philosophies of the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) and inspired the students to strive to make a better world.

A keynote address by Dr. Anita Kurup, Professor and Dean of School of Social Sciences, National Institute of Advanced Studies, on the pressing issues of the changing education landscapes in the school system, teacher education and research. She stressed that there is a need of forums to be created, where students and teachers can present their papers and create awareness of research to solve many problems in Education.
Dr Satralkar delivered another keynote address on Applications of Neuroscience in Education to conclude the day.