Governor Jishnu Dev Varma called for a renaissance of school education rooted in India’s civilizational ethos and responsive to global change.
“Imagine education the Indian way by combining knowledge with wisdom, technology with values and innovation with compassion,” he said at the inaugural three-day annual conference of the Council of Boards of School Education (COBSE) on Wednesday.
More than 70 school boards from across India and abroad, including representatives from Cambridge International and the International Baccalaureate (IB), participated in the 54th edition of the conference on ‘The Future of School Education – Opportunities and Challenges’.
Mr. Varma urged educators and policy makers to “create a value-oriented education system that harmonizes technology with timeless human principles.”
“The school is not just a place of learning, it is the cradle of our nation’s tomorrow. There is a need to decolonize and reorient education to Indian cultural foundations,” he noted, calling for a deeper moral vision. “Leadership has to come from the Indian value system – that’s where my root should be or I’ll be homeless,” he added.
Stressing the importance of human leadership in education reform, Secretary (Education) Yogita Rana said that politics alone cannot change education; this would be done by people who believe in his promise and deed.
While noting the need for a balance between modernization and moral grounding, she noted that empowering an enlightened generation can occur when teachers, administrators and policymakers work together.
COBSE President and CISCE Chairman G. Immanuel said the Council’s aim was to transform school education by promoting inter-council collaboration, sharing innovations and creating research-informed policies.
Presentations and discussions included: Transforming Systems for Education Quality by Joseph Emmanuel and Bhawna Taragi of CISCE; Academic and Assessment Frameworks in Telangana by Board of Intermediate Education Secretary Krishna Aditya S; Standard Setting and Quality Assurance in Indian Schools Pranati Panda of NIEPA; best practices in educational recognition, policy formulation and pedagogy from international frameworks such as Cambridge International and the International Baccalaureate.
Published – 29 Oct 2025 20:42 IST
