Top policy makers, educationists and corporates attended the Indian Education Congress 2011, convened in New Delhi on April 22-23. The event was organised by Franchise India and presented by the S. Chand Group with KPMG as knowledge partner.The Indian Education Congress is an initiative by Franchise India which recognises the need to think boldly and broadly on how to strengthen and expand existing initiatives within the realm of the growing Indian education sector, said Gaurav Marya, president of Franchise India, in his inaugural address to the congress. The next big leap in education can happen only if education is also looked at as a business. We need best practices, scalable models and investment by organised players to achieve this. Once the education market gets consolidated then a pan-India outreach can be achieved, opined S. Chands CEO Amit Gupta. During the congress, the S. Chand Group also officially announced its joint venture with the worlds leading K-12 education publishing company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to form a company named S. Chand Harcourt India Pvt. Ltd. During the congress, the Indian Education Awards 2011 felicitated achievers, innovators and suppliers who have significantly contributed towards the growth of Indian education. Among the awardees were Amity Universitys Dr. Ashok Chauhan, (Lifetime Achievement Award for Higher Education); Educomps Shantanu Prakash (Best Entrepreneur of the Year); Sharda University (Best Private University) and IGNOU (Excellence in Distance Learning Education).
