The Federation for Educational Leaders and Administrators Foundation (FELA-Foundation), an NPO that addresses contemporary issues in the education system, conducted a national level e-conference on the impact of COVID-19 on higher education.
The Foundation brought together senior academic community members, industry leaders and policymakers to promote a democratic exchange regarding policies and grievances in the education sector.
The conference's goal was to assess the impact of COVID-19, especially on higher education, from the perspective of vice-chancellors and higher education leaders across India. More than 15 vice-chancellors participated and delivered their insights at the conference.
Based on the discussion, FELA aims to furnish and publish the assessment report and submit it to the respected Central and State Government Department of Education to make necessary reforms in higher education. The information will be shared and published in the FELA magazine, national and international media.
The points discussed at the conference were the international mobility of students, the loss of instructional time in online education, measures to continue student learning during the closure of education institutes, educators' readiness to endow digital learning, critical parameters for the reopening of educational institutes, challenges faced by universities and administrators during the pandemic, factors affecting the quality of higher education in digital learning.
Day one of the conference was chaired by Parvinder Singh, the vice-chancellor at Rayat Bhara University, Punjab; Raman Jha, the vice-chancellor at Amity University, Jharkhand; and Chattar Singh, the vice-chancellor at Rai Technology University, Bengaluru. Day 2 was chaired by Meena Rajesh, the vice-chancellor at GH Raisoni University, Madya Pradesh; Sunil Rai, the vice-chancellor at the University of Petroleum and Energy Research; and Raghuvir Singh, the vice-chancellor at Theerthankar Mahavir Unversity, Moradabad.