Lucknow: The three-day International Roundtable Conference on Educational Leadership,
‘Ed Leadership-2026’, concluded today at the CMS Kanpur Road Auditorium with a firm commitment to bringing meaningful and creative changes to educational practices. At the concluding ceremony, teachers and principals from across the country resolved to provide quality education to students in an interesting and stress-free manner and made a strong appeal to spread the light of knowledge to every section of society. Teachers who had made notable contributions to the field of education were also honoured on the occasion.
The third and final day of the conference began with the ceremonial lighting of the lamp this morning. Addressing the gathering, Dr Sunita Gandhi, Founder of the Global Education and Training Institute and Devi Sansthan, and Convenor of the conference, spoke about the progress of the ALfA (Accelerating Learning for All) programme in India and abroad, its key principles, and the recognition it has received from Harvard University, USA. She informed the gathering that 12 countries are benefiting from ALfA’s literacy and numeracy skills development programme. Mr Robert Gandhi, MD, City International School, said that the 21st century is an era of revolutionary changes in education. He emphasised the need for an educational system that promotes the holistic development of children and nurtures their leadership abilities.
On the third and final day of ‘Ed Leadership-2026’, insightful discussions were held through roundtables on educational innovation, effective leadership and improvements in teaching practices. The first roundtable, themed ‘The Principal’s Dilemma’, was moderated by Ms Savita Makhija, Principal, City International School, Manas City, Lucknow. The panellists included Ms Devyani Mungali, Founder-Director, Sanskriti Group of Schools, Pune; Ms Mallika Preman, Principal, Tagore International School, Delhi; Ms Jyoti Luthara, President, Global Principals Association; Mrs Suman Singh, Director and Principal, Radicon School, Ghaziabad; and Mr Yadagiri Shekhar Rao from Telangana. They unanimously emphasised that knowledge grows when it is shared, thereby contributing to improvements in the quality of education.
Another roundtable, themed ‘Borrow, Bend, Bin’, was moderated by Dr Mala Mehra, Principal, Horner College, Lucknow. The panellists included Mr S. S. Chandok, Founder and MD, The S. S. Chandok Talk Show; Ms Deboleena Chowdhary, Principal, Hermann Gmeiner School, Faridabad; Captain Sivaram N, Director,
Dr MGR Educational and Research Institute; Dr Uzma Qamar, Founder-Director, Eduvision India; and Mr Amarendra Pandey, Director, GK Memorial School. The eminent educationists expressed the view that useful ideas should be adopted, adapted to suit specific educational needs and discarded when they no longer serve their purpose. They emphasised that ideas should not be rejected without proper evaluation; rather, their merits should first be explored and put to good use.
At the concluding session, Dr Bharti Gandhi, Founder-Director of City Montessori School, expressed her gratitude to the teachers and principals who had come from across the country. She said that CMS had grown from a humble beginning with just five students to an institution with a strength of 66,000 students. This remarkable growth, she emphasised, was the result of continuous improvement, innovation and an unwavering commitment to quality education. She expressed confidence that the exchange of ideas among teachers and educational leaders would give a new direction to the education sector and contribute to building a brighter future for the coming generations.
