Chennai: Cambridge English Language Assessment and Cambridge University Press, in partnership with FICCI, are hosting the FICCI – Cambridge English South Asia Partnership Summit on 23 and 24 February 2016 in New Delhi.
This invitation-only event, themed Transforming Language Education, is an opportunity to discuss, debate and propose practical solutions for one of the most important issues facing young people in South Asia – how to gain the wide-ranging skills required for 21st-century employment.
The aim of the summit is to provide a positive context in which leaders from Government, educational institutions and corporate organisationssuch as Principal Secretaries, Vice Chancellors,business leaders, and other policy makers can share expertise and ideas and create new partnerships. It is only by collaboration and integration that we can ensure students leave higher education with the English language and personal skills needed for the region’s dynamic economy.
Although the challenge is significant, by harnessing both the transformational power of digital learning, and the growing willingness for private and public sector collaboration, we can find innovative solutions to complex problems, and define practical reforms with real purpose and power.
The summit will comprise plenary presentations, to frame the debate, followed by break-away sessions, hosted by panels of experts, to explore and discuss four key themes: languageskills for employment – a focus on teaching; digital learning technologies; employment; and research and innovation.
Language skills for employment – a focus on teaching
English is now the lingua franca of international business, and increasingly the medium of instruction in education, bringing sharply into focus the language teaching strategies of the South Asia region, and the skills and abilities of English language teachers. The teacher’s own language therefore becomes the model which learners follow. This raises a number of questions which the session will explore.
Digital learning technologies
Employment
Research and Innovation
Key Speakers
Saul Nassé – CEO, Cambridge English
Dr Ted Briscoe – Professor of Computational Linguistics, specialising in Human Language Technologies, Cambridge University
Dr Nick Saville – Director of Thought Leadership, Cambridge English
DrHananKhalifa – Head of Research and International Development, Cambridge English
Dr A Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI
Mr Mohandas Pai, Chair-FICCI HE Committee &Chairman-Manipal Global Education
Dr RajanSaxena, Co-Chair-FICCI HE Committee & Vice Chancellor, NMIMS University
Dr Indira Parikh, Co-Chair FICCI HE Committee & Founder President, FLAME
Mr AnandSudarshan, Director, SylvantAdvisors