Food bill, social media on Head Table

In a refreshing departure from the talks of technology’s bane on the school-going generation with addiction to smartphones and computers, bright minds from city schools participated in a heated intellectual discussion as a part of Head Table on Saturday. Head Table is an annual student leadership forum organised by the Institute of Experiential Learning to discuss issues that concern the country and demand answers from a panel of experts.

Themed ‘the future’, this was the forum’s third year and it was hosted in Mumbai for the first time. 500 students aged 11 and above from 96 schools in the city were a part of the event.

The session lasted three hours and the panel of experts included Adille Sumariwalla, sports person and CEO, outdoor division, Next Mediaworks; Shivnath Thukral, former managing editor, NDTV Profit; Alok Kejriwal, serial digital entrepreneur and Anita Garware, chairperson, Indian Heritage Academy.

The controversial food security bill, responsible usage of social media, transparent governance and society’s attitude towards women were some of the issues that were discussed by the students.“There is a lot of corruption in the political system. What will be it’s effect on the country’s future?” asked a student from Vibgyor High. “Is the food security bill just a political strategy?” asked another student to which Thukral replied, “We have no infrastructure to implement the bill and the fact that it took nine years to pass the bill just six months before the election is a concern.”

While most students awaited their turn to ask a question, Alankriti Bhushan from Rajhans Vidyalaya took a short cut and tweeted to Alok Kejriwal instead. “Can we achieve transparency through the use of technology?” she asked Kejriwal. In response, he said, “While you can’t digitise the entire country, the RTI Act and the UID is a step in the right direction.”

Colin Tims, trustee, Head Table spoke in detail about how childrens’ taleznt is often underestimated.

Turning heads
Head Table is an annual student leadership forum organised by the Institute of Experiential Learning.

Themed ‘the future’, this was the forum’s third year and it was hosted in Mumbai for the first time. 500 students aged 11 and above from 96 schools in the city were a part of the event.