The Education Committee of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized its Annual Education Conference on "21st Century Realities & Learning - Creating More Polymaths" on Friday, 3rd May, 2019, from 10 a.m. to 7.30 p.m., at The Hyatt Regency, Kolkata.

The programme began with an Inaugural Session focusing on pertinent issues like "The 21st Century Realities and Learning's, Educational Strategies for the Next Generation, Higher learning ecosystem, the strategic application to Education and on the Role of Academia in Innovation and Technology." The session was introduced by Mr. Amitabha Datta, Director, Calcutta Media Institute and a senior member of the Education Committee of the Bengal Chamber. It was followed by a formal welcome address by the Chairperson of the Education Committee Dr. Suborno Bose. The theme address of the programme was delivered by Mr. Satyam Roy Chowdhury, Co- Chairperson, The Education Committee. Shri Alapan Bandhopadhyay, I.A.S, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Industry Commerce and Enterprises & Micro & Small Scale Enterprises and Textiles, Government of West Bengal delivered the Keynote Address focusing on the need for creating Polymaths. Prof. Bikash Sinha, Padma Bhusan, INSA Honorary Scientist & Former Homi Bhabha Professor, DA Former Director, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics & Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre and Prof. Saikat Maitra, Vice Chancellor, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology of West Bengal also shared their individual outlook on the concept. The Chamber was privileged to have His Excellency Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi, Hon'ble Governor of West Bengal as the Chief Guest of the day and was extremely honoured to hear from him on the future of education and the necessity of creating Polymaths.

This session was followed by the Theme Panel on "Theme Panel: Creating More Polymaths-The New Leaders". The session was chaired by Dr. Suborno Bose, Chairman, Education Committee, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chief Mentor, International Institute of Hotel Management. The panel was also addressed by Prof. Ajoy Kumar Ray, Professor, IIT Kharagpur, Mr. Anindya Ghosh, Global Markets Leader, Pfizer & Watson Health Leader, Cognitive Business Decision Support, IBM India Pvt. Ltd, Mr. Paul Walsh, MBE , Managing Trustee, Founder, Jungle Crows and Dr. Suman Kumar Mukerjee, Director General, The Bhawanipur Education Society College.

The session took an interesting form with the valuable and motivating inputs shared by the iconic speaker, actor, director and Managing Director, Nothing Beyond Cinema Mr. Arindam Sil. He shared his experience of choosing alternate career option. It was a captivating and motivating perspective for the young students present among the audience. This again was followed by a Leader's Speak session on "Immersive Learning - Let's Dive into the Deep End" by Mr. Swami Sekar, CEO and Co-founder, Winimy AI, Singapore.

The second half of the programme started with a first's of its kind initiative of the Education Committee where the school students were invited as Panellists and were asked to share their feedback on the future of Education. Master Parikshit Roy Chowdhury, Class XII from St Xavier's Collegiate School, Master Rik Mukherjee, Class XII from Don Bosco, Park Circus, Ms. Divyanshi Sharda, Class XII from La Martiniere for Girls, Ms. Sheshtha Basu Roy Chowdhury, Class XII from Shri Shikshayatan School and Master Purottam Chowdhury, Class X from National High School for Boys shared the stage with Ms. Bratati Bhattacharyya, Secretary General, Shri Shikshayatan Foundation, Prof. Ashoke Ranjan Thakur, Vice Chancellor, Sister Nivedita University, Mr. Pradip Chopra, Chairman, iLead, Kolkata and Mrs. Mini Joseph, Senior English Teacher, St Xavier's Collegiate School. The entire session was drafted, created and moderated by Mrs. Rupkatha Sarkar, Principal, LaMartiniere for Girls.

The programme continued with an outstanding session named "Living Your Dreams" by reputed RJ Jimmy Tangree, Head- Friends 91.9 FM, Mr. Irfan Ahmed, Celebrity Mixologist and Bar Consultant and Dr. Soumitra Dutta, Renowned Paediatrician & Photographer. All of them are real time polymaths as they have continuously challenged themselves to grasp concepts of different disciplines aiming to detect the common thread between them. They shaped up a new dawn by creating pathways for unsought career paths into the most demanding and rewarding career option for the future generation.

The day session of the programme concluded with a dynamic speech by Mr. Anupam Dutta, Executive Director & Advisory, PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt Ltd. He spoke on "Real Intelligence in the time of Artificial Intelligence- Preparing for the Next Generation".

The star attraction of the full day programme was the evening session which began conferring Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Sudha Kaul, Vice Chairperson, Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy, Lifetime Achievement in Alternate Education to Smt. Alokananda Roy, Eminent Dancer and Hall of Fame to the magnificent, stalwart Author Mr. Ruskin Bond.

Everyone present including children thoroughly enjoyed the free flowing interactive session with Mr. Ruskin Bond, Eminent Author moderated by Mr. Jimmy Tangree. The conversation started with Mr. Bond's school days to how did he became a writer to Mr Bond as a tap dancer to his message for the Bengal Chamber of Commerce who are striving to make a difference to The Education systems of today and tomorrow. Mr. Ruskin Bond was glad and passionate enough to answer each question and was also very happy to answer question received from the children present at the audience. Mr. Ruskin Bond gave an important message to the Chamber saying that the Chamber should also focus on the rural connect creating more opportunities for those children to rise and shine .

The daylong session was finally concluded by the Director General of the Bengal Chamber, Mr. Subhodip Ghosh who thanked Mr. Ruskin Bond for his kind words and his presence, to all the speakers who joined from different parts of the world, to all the partners and sponsors of the programme, to the 350 audience which was present throughout the day and also to all the members of the Education Committee of The Bengal Chamber for making the entire event so impactful and successful. The Conference had an excellent media reporting as well as social media coverage with excellent viewership.