Daily Times

The virtual Beaconhouse School of Tomorrow conference titled ‘A World of Tomorrow: Negotiating a Better Future’ continued on day two, featuring a one-on-one conversation with early years educator Carla Rinaldi, President Fondazione Reggio Children, hosted by Professor Dr Ger Graus OBE, Chair, Beaconhouse Advisory Council.

A key highlight of day one of the conference was the recognition of the Pakistan government’s comprehensive response to COVID-19 by Director General of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

On day two, the conference continued with an important discussion on bridging the ‘digital divide’ amongst schools featuring panellists Saeed Ghani, Minister of School Education, Sindh, Michael O’ Sullivan, former CEO CAIE, Dr Ulrik Christensen, a learning technologies expert and Nasreen M Kasuri, Founder and Chairperson of Beaconhouse. Ms Kasuri emphasized blended learning as a key component for the future of learning.

A highlight of the day was a conversation on the future of education with Andreas Schleicher, Head of the OECD Directorate of Education & Skills and creator of the global PISA test with Kasim Kasuri, CEO of Beaconhouse, in which Schliecher stressed that “Artificial Intelligence will certainly augment good teaching, but is unfortunately not a replacement for bad teaching.”

Sessions ran concurrently on the impact of the pandemic on raising children with Professor Maggie Atkinson, former Children’s Commissioner for England and online safety expert, Stella James, amongst others, along with a presentation on managing the post-Covid mental health crisis with Dr Daniel Fung, Chairman Medical Board, Singapore. The future of higher education was explored with Professor Shirley Congdon, Vice Chancellor, University of Bradford, Dr Adil Najam, a Dean at Boston University, and Dr Faisal Bari, an Interim Dean at LUMS. Ms Jill Ackers-Clayton, a renowned learning specialist conducted a workshop on strategies for engaging students in online learning. Meanwhile, a fiery debate ensued on the roles of private and public health providers.

Journalist and film-maker, Ms Munizae Jahangir concluded the day with interviewing Oscar-winning film producer & member, House of Lords, UK, Lord David Puttnam CBE on the power of film – and discussed some of Lord Puttnam’s award winning films including Chariots of Fire.

Edition XI of the The School of Tomorrow conference features important conversations and interviews about safer and more balanced futures in light of Covid-19, as well as pushing educators to reimagine the future of education at both school and university levels. The conference continues to stream LIVE on July 12 on its website (www.sotevents.com) and the social media platforms Facebook and YouTube (Sot Events).

SOT Events are made possible by the generous support of corporate sponsors. The organisers acknowledge the support of United Bank Limited as the Lead Sponsor for SOT Edition XI.

The non-profit School of Tomorrow Event Series was launched in 2000 and is organised by Beaconhouse as part of its ongoing commitment to its social responsibility.