The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the oldest institution of its kind in India, organized a Webinar on "Learn, Lead and Link-up: Knowledge Comes Closer with Social Distancing", on 10th April 2020 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.. The Chamber planned this Webinar with a focus to analyze the impact of the outbreak of COVID-19 on the Education Industry along with an objective to receive a combined and determined response from the entire Education and Learning fraternity.

The Webinar was addressed by eminent decision makers from the education fraternity of India and The United Kingdom, along with a focused Student Panel and was executed through the Zoom Pro platform.

The education sector worldwide is witnessing dynamic changes, where technology has played a very important role in redefining the education system and bringing classrooms closer in newer ways. Under such a scenario, The Chamber's Education Committee organized this Webinar, which witnessed 390 participants across India, from various sectors comprising Education, Industry , Students fraternity, etc.

The Webinar witnessed speakers like Dr. Suborno Bose, Chairperson, Education Committee, BCC&I & Chief Mentor, International Institute of Hotel Management, who initiated the Webinar by delivering the Theme Address, followed by Prof (Dr) Dhrubojyoti Chattopadhyay, Vice Chancellor, Sister Nivedita University speaking on Classroom teaching has hit the pause button in 2020 but has the online education system pressed the fast forward button to 2030, followed by Mr Simarpreet Singh, Director, JIS Group who spoke on A temporary adjustment or a tectonic shift -- what is the education sector undergoing because of the present crisis?.

Mr. Miraj Digvijay Shah, Vice Chairman, The Bhawanipore Education Society spoke on the use of technology or a change in mindset, which will be the most significant and enduring shift brought about by this crisis, followed by Prof Saikat Maitra, Vice Chancellor, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology of West Bengal spoke on the biggest challenges of this emergency immersion into online/distance learning.

Mr. Debanjan Chakrabarti, Director East and Northeast India, British Council , British Deputy High Commission and Dr Antonius Raghubansie, Director, Learning and Services, British Council India focused on What impact is this sudden switch to technology-enabled learning having on faculty and students and How is the learning and service balancing each other through technology ensuring the quality.

Special Address by a student panel by Ms Amanjeet Kaur and Ms Meghna Basu, Class V, Shri Shikshayatan School, discussing and sharing their experience of E-Learning.

SPECIAL ADDRESS BY: Prof. David Foskett, MBE CMA FIH BED(Hons) FRACA HMCCC, IIHM LONDON, -On global Perspective and Dr David Graham, Sheffield Halem University, UK, on international education system.

Ms. Rupkatha Sarkar, Principal, La Martiniere For Girls, spoke on the importance for institutions to carefully evaluate their remote teaching strategies and capabilities across segments after the COVID-19 crisis subsides, followed by Mrs. Bratati Bhattacharyya, Secretary General & CEO of Shikshayatan Foundation who spoke on the end result be: quality-enriched online learning or a perceived quality gap, followed by Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Founder and Mentor of CB Classes focused on the use of technology in assessments can be greatly enhanced in a post-Covid world this was again followed by Ms. Aranya Kalia from Intueri Global who spoke on the need for research on Edutech. The programme was moderated by Mr. Sumit Dasgupta, Founder & Director, Allcap Communication Pvt. Ltd.

Overall it was a very informative Webinar and has very good media coverage too.