Professor G Ram Reddy's Memorial Lecture delivered by Prof. B. Shadrach Director, CEMCA, at BRAOU-Hyderabad, Telangana, India, on 12 January 2024

Dr B. Shadrach, Director of the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), the regional hub of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), delivered the Prof. G. Ram Reddy Memorial Lecture on 'Open Universities and Education 4.0' as the Chief Guest. The event washosted by Dr B. R. Ambedkar Open University (BRAOU) in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, on 12 January 2024. This lecture series pays homage to Prof. G. Ram Reddy, the esteemed founder of BRAOU and the founding Vice Chancellor of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), who also held the distinction of being the first Vice President of COL. The event was chaired by Prof. K. Seetharama Rao, the Vice Chancellor of BRAOU.

Dr. Shadrach tookthis opportunity to articulate how Open Universities, bolstered through the transformative nature of the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020),can support the Education 4.0 framework proposed by the World Economic Forum.According to him,Education 4.0 emphasises skill development from an early age, recognising skills like Global Citizenship, Innovation, Technology, and Interpersonal skills as essential for the future workforce. It advocates for embedding skill development in educational content and modifying pedagogies to foster competencies like critical thinking, collaboration, and adaptability. The framework aims to bridge the gap between education and workforce expectations, focusing on cognitive, social, and physical skills, as well as attitudes and values like adaptability, curiosity, empathy, and global citizenship.

In the contemporary educational and skill development landscape in India, policy endeavours such as NEP 2020 and the Ahmedabad Declaration, endorsed during the first Indian Open Universities conference in August 2023, reaffirm commitments to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), lifelong learning, bridging the digital divide, and shaping the trajectory of education by aligning institutions with the Education 4.0 framework.To honour these commitments, Dr Shadrach opined that Open Universities must undergo a process of reimagining and transformation, evolving into multidisciplinary institutions with expanded outreach and enhanced focus on future workforce skill development. 

For further insights, the full paper can be accessed at:https://oasis.col.org/items/56eb1352-bd86-4939-a1f4-b3585a1630d2