A student of Life Science department of Bharathidasan University Sushmitha Krishnan has been granted the UNESCO TAGe (Talking Across Generations on Education) Fellowship in recognition of her effective participation in a global dialogue with senior decision-makers organised by Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Education & Peace (MGIEP).
A student of integrated programme at the university, Sushmitha Krishnan, who was among the six youths chosen from across the globe to take part in the TAGe dialogue held between August 28 and September 1 last year had voiced her concern over the education system revolving around the theme ‘reimagining education.’
She demanded education to be a joyful experience and students are equipped to face the 21st century challenges.
She stressed the need for youth to rethink education from the perspective of emotional resilience with elements such as compassion, empathy and mental wellness.
Senior decision makers who took part in the global dialogue included Aishath Ali (Minister of Education, Maldives); Ambassador Antonio Novoa (Ambassador of Portugal to UNESCO) and Akpezi Ogbuigwe (Founder, Anpez Centre for Environment and Development, Nigeria).
After the panel discussion, the selected youth were awarded a TAGe fellowship to work closely with the UNESCO MGIEP officials and senior policy makers to fine-tune a policy brief titled ‘reimagining education’, depicting the collective thoughts of youth worldwide in global discourses such as the Futures of Education Initiative and the International Science and Evidence-based Education Assessment (ISEEA) of UNESCO.
Her article titled ‘Teachers of the future – our demands and dreams’ has been published in Blue dot, the flagship journal of UNESCO MGIEP in the February 2021 issue.
The selected youth are engaged in different activities of UNESCO like planning and moderating other series of TAGe.
Ms. Sushmita was felicitated by M. Selvam, Vice-Chancellor; G. Gopinath, Registrar; and N. Thajuddin, Programme Co-ordinator of the five-year Integrated M.Sc. Life Sciences programme.
