The education sector in India, has been witnessing a massive transformation recently with technological disruptions, demand for quality education and the implementation of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. As the Covid 19 pandemic prompted mass school, colleges and universities closures, both students and teachers were learning to transition from offline to online teaching-learning classes. This posed several challenges expecting rise in dropouts, learning losses, and increase in digital divide. However, covid-19 also acted as a catalyst for digital adoption in school education. With schools reopening across the country, it is important that a careful strategy is built in to smoothen the transition of children back to school after more than 15 -18 months of home-based learning. This transition has to consider the learning losses which had happened over the previous years as well take a futuristic approach to build a resilient system which can withstand any future shocks.

To highlight the key points in the above areas and discuss the way forward, CII is organising the 6th edition ofCII School on 22nd July at India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi. The Summit will also highlight the changes that have been necessitated during the year, in curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, reimagining education spaces and capacity building of teachers.

Focus sessions of the CII's School Summit will include Lessons from educational innovation during the COVID-19 pandemic; Integration of Academic and Vocational Education; Tackling Mental Challenges of Teachers and Students during Pandemic; and Competency-Based Education -How can schools use it? The annual School Summit will also celebrate the rigour and resilience shown by the education fraternity in these trying times and will deliberate a path towards full recovery at an earliest possible time. The Summit will especially focus on the National Education Policy and its implementation going forward.

One of the key goals in the summit is to discuss and deliberate on how to improve learning outcomes of children. This needs to be addressed through multi-faceted interventions including teacher training, leveraging technology tools, right assessment, good governance etc. It is our goal to provide meaningful education to our children to make them more employable. Industry's needs and requirements today are vastly different from what they were some years back. It is through high quality education that industry can create the right recipe for success.

CII School Summit is being organized for the past 5 years and has received the support and patronage of the Ministry of Education in its previous editions. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) also supports the summit every year.

The Summit is organised at the central level and covering the entire country. The arena of activity will be a platform which will offer a unique opportunity to network, collaborate and showcase novel initiatives both from the school and higher education sectors.

It would be a great occasion for recognising educators who have changed the face of Indian education through their exemplary leadership and contribution to the education field and also showcase innovative teaching-learning practices, new-age teaching interventions and digital solutions.