Guwahati: Girijananda Chowdhury University hosted a one-day Teachers’ Training Programme on Design Thinking and Innovation on 13th September 2025 at its Azara campus.
This special event was organized by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell (MIC), Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), and the Department of School Education & Literacy.
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The initiative brought together about 70 educators from 25 schools across Assam for an intensive orientation that blended theory with hands-on classroom strategies.
Led by national experts from IIT Bombay, Jellow Labs, Suncity World School, and Nodes, the programme offered educators practical insights into how design thinking principles can be integrated into school curricula.
Teachers were trained in applying design thinking and innovation to weave these approaches into their curriculum and everyday teaching practices. Participants received step-by-step guidance, a newly developed Teachers’ Manual, and assessment resources designed to make design thinking more accessible for classroom use.
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Professor Ravi Poovaiah from IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay, opened the sessions with an overview of design thinking and the school-focused innovation framework, laying the conceptual foundation for the day.
This was followed by Ms. Rupa Chakravarty, Education Leader at Suncity World School, Gurugram, who shared creativity-driven approaches to design pedagogy and underlined the importance of cultivating innovation in schools among teachers and students alike. Ms. Prajakta Kulkarni, founder of the education firm Nodes, introduced the Teachers’ Manual, providing a practical blueprint for structured classroom deployment.
From the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell, Mr. Ashish Tripathi outlined a wide range of activities and initiatives undertaken by the Innovation Cell to promote creativity and design among school students.
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He emphasized the importance of sustained innovation, highlighting pathways to support prototypes beyond workshops through assessment matrices and follow-up mechanisms.
In the afternoon, Dr. Ajanta Sen, Director of Jellow Labs, brought critical and creative thinking into focus through a wide-ranging overview of storytelling techniques, illustrating how design outcomes can be anchored in measurable classroom practices.
The sessions stressed the use of affordable, replicable tools that allow teachers to translate complex design concepts into everyday routines.
The programme concluded with a hands-on toy design studio led by Prof.Poovaiah and Dr. Sen. Educators worked in teams to design classroom toys—from simple materials such as A3 sheets, mountboard, straws, buttons, and rubber bands—aimed at helping students grasp abstract concepts through experiential learning.
By the end of the day, the orientation not only equipped teachers with practical tools and resources but also fostered a collective resolve to nurture innovation-driven learning environments in schools across Assam.