Annual General Body Meeting – IPDA, India
&
Felicitation of Dr. Balwant Singh
The Annual General Body Meeting of IPDA (International Professional Development Association), India was held at Partap College of Education, Humbran Road, Ludhiana on 29.12.2016. Dr. Balwant Singh, Chair, IPDA India was felicitated on this occasion by the members of IPDA, India. It is a matter of pride and great honour for the city of Ludhiana that Dr. Balwant Singh, Principal, Partap College of Education, had been awarded the title of Fellow of the International Professional Development Association at University of Stirling, Scotland, UK. It was to commemorate this event that the members wanted to honour Dr. Balwant Singh for his tireless efforts and dedicated service in taking IPDA, India (the national chapter of the parent body, IPDA, UK) to new heights.
Dr. S.S. Johl, Chancellor, Central University, Bathinda, was the Chief Guest of the day. Dr. Manpreet Kaur read the citation of the award as a mark of respect.
While highlighting the achievements of Dr. Balwant Singh, Dr. Manpreet Kaur threw light on his biographic details and his academic and administrative achievements. “The State officials and his peers have high regard for him because of his dedicated work in professional development much of which has been against the odds. He is a lone figure in championing this area. The IPDA fellowship is acknowledging the distinguished achievements of Dr. Balwant Singh with IPDA India”, she added.
The members of IPDA India — Dr. Ramesh Sandhu, Associate Professor, C.R. College of Education, Hisar; Mr. Rampal Singh, Associate Professor, Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Karnal; Dr. Mohua Khosla, Assistant Professor, Malwa Central College of Education, Ludhiana; Dr. Manpreet Kaur, Vice-Principal, Partap College of Education, Ludhiana – shared their experiences of attending the International Conference at Scotland and the Partap IPDA conference organized at Partap College of Education this year.
In the Annual General Body Meeting of IPDA India, the members discussed about the activities of the upcoming year and formulated an action plan for the year 2017 including induction of new members, renewal of membership, Partap IPDA International Conference 2017 (venue, themes/sub-themes, dates organizing committee and participation fee etc.). They were all in unison, while summing up the events of 2016 in expressing their satisfaction over the way IPDA India has progressed and done well.
A video interview of Dr. Balwant Singh, recorded at Scotland along with the glimpses of the international conferences was shown through the slides.
While expressing his heartfelt opinions, Dr. Balwant Singh talked at length about his journey of life and how it had a very humbling experience for him in having the title of Fellow being bestowed upon him by an organization of international repute with all members of high calibre and intellectual precision. An important message he wanted to put across with a view to keep on track the professional development of teachers, for which he has been striving hard continuously, he said, “Synthesis is the right ‘mantra’ to stay relevant. We must realize immediately what has outlived its utility and it must be torn away. We have to embrace the new systems but not without deliberation. We have to ensure that the new we are going to assimilate must not cause nightmares to our growth track. It must not kill our ethos.”
Dr. Johl, along with the IPDA members presented a memento and shawl to Dr. Balwant Singh as a mark of honour to acknowledge his devotion and hard work that has gone into his being bestowed upon the title of Fellow by IPDA, UK. While addressing the august gathering, Dr. S.S. Johl, very aptly struck a very cordial and emotional chord with the audience while he shared memorable incidents of his long association with Dr. Balwant Singh.
Dr. Manpreet Kaur presented the vote of thanks and the programme ended with an extended tête-à-tête over high tea.
