IC3 Regional Forum
May 26, 2022
On May 14, 2022, the Strawberry Fields High School hosted the third IC3 Regional Forum, a series of one-day events in high schools across India, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The goal of these Forums is to bring together school leaders, college counselors and teachers, with university representatives to discuss counseling and admissions practices to ensure as seamless a transition as possible, for the students stepping out from the cloistered existence within their schools into the world of advanced tertiary education. This Forum, attended by 125+ participants, presented an opportunity for all stakeholders to facilitate the forward journey of their students, so that they may be better prepared and ready to make the best use of their capabilities as they chart out the most suitable course to follow.
The Forum began with a performance by the performance by the supremely talented music team of Strawberry Fields High School – Mr. David Lal, Mr Prateik Lal, Ms Nasrin Hajra, Ms Anuja Sharma, Ms Rakhi Sharma, Ms Anjali Kaur and Mr Subhasish Hajra, who were led by our Director and Head of School, Mr. Atul Khanna. They enthralled the audience with a prayer to the Almighty asking for His blessings, protection and favour. The prayer was a combination of the popular hymn “Abide with me” and the devotional song “Teri Hai Zameen,” and was presented in the form of a fusion of two languages and styles.
The Keynote speaker at the Forum was Dr. Rudra Pratap, Founding Vice Chancellor of Plaksha University. He was until recently, the Deputy Director of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Founding Chairperson of the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE) and a Professor in the Centre, as well as of Mechanical Engineering at IISc, Bangalore. Through his address, Dr. Pratap shared the need for the current education system to allow for interdisciplinary and experimental thought and provided inspiration to schools to allow students to explore multi-faceted interests while solving community-identified problems.
The next session of the event was conducted by Mr. Ganesh Kohli, Chairperson of the IC3 Conference, who deconstructed the structure of a robust college and career counselling laboratory at schools. He was later joined by Mr. Sanjay Padode, the Founding President of Vijaybhoomi University, who elaborated on “The Curious Case of the Right Brain – Exploring Careers Through Multiple Intelligences”. Post-lunch, Ms. Nisha Kaul, Vice Principal, Strawberry Fields High School, moderated a session on the “Interplay of Non-academic Factors on College and Career Counselling” with Ms. Shalini Sharma, Head of the Centre of Wellbeing at Plaksha University, Ms. Neha Arora, Higher Ed Guidance Counsellor & Career Advisor, & International Exams Coordinator at St Kabir Public School, and Ms. Guneet Swani, a parent at Strawberry Fields and an entrepreneur, as panellists. The last session of the day was also a panel discussion on “How to Choose an International Study Destination?” moderated by Mr. Vir Anand with Ms. Priya Gidwani, Recruitment Advisor at the University of Essex, and Ms. Anjali Aggarwal, Sr. Recruitment Adviser India, Schools Engagement, The University of Sydney, Australia, as panellists.
With two networking breaks, the unique day-long conference offered plenty of opportunities for meaningful interactions among participants, paving the way for enriching collaborations in the future. The sessions equipped the attendees to tackle the amorphous scenario of imminent career choices and help make students future-ready for hitherto unforeseen professional opportunities.
