IIM Lucknow's OCUMEN 2008 Crowns New Champions

IIM Lucknow's OCUMEN 2008 Crowns New Champions

Ocumen 2008, held at IIM Lucknow on January 20, 2008, has crowned the new champions. It was a nail-biting finish to the end, which required a tie-breaker to decide the best school. The day-long event saw a close fight between Army Public School, Lucknow

and the defending champion, Dewan Public School, Meerut. Eventually, Dewan Public lost out, as Army Public School was crowned the champions at Ocumen 2008.

The event was equally enriching for the 20 teachers, as they gained extensively from the two workshops conducted by IIM Lucknow professors. The workshops focused on Communication Skills, and the other featured a discussion on how business scenarios should be cited to make education more relevant. Mr. Pankaj Bhanwani, an Economics Teacher from Bal Bharati Public School quoted, "The entire event was very well-organized, and though our school did not win the event, but I am confident we all are going back with lots of learning and experiences to cherish for a lifetime." The professors at IIM Lucknow, including Prof. Amita Mittal, were equally full of praises for the event.

The other highlights of the event included the insightful address by the Chief Guest, Rakesh K. Mittal, where he highlighted relevant issues of education, social welfare and deprivation. His experience and vision generated a lot of interest among the students, as they poured their queries for the Senior Bureaucrat to answer. The Director of IIM Lucknow, Dr. Devi Singh, was also very encouraging, and praised the school students, organizers and the teachers for their enthusiasm while delivering the Vote of Thanks to the Chief Guest.

The unique part of Ocumen 2008 was the mentorship program, which saw 20 MBA students come and interact with the 60 students from the various students. The students developed strong bonds with their mentors and a long-term association was forged.

The salient points of this event were: -

Unique Social Initiative across all IIMs

Participation from 60 School Students and 20 Teachers

Unique way of learning through games, and by doing

Educational summit to discuss the perils of the Indian Education System

Talk by Guest of Honor, Mr. Rajesh K. Mittal, Social Welfare Commissioner, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh, former Principal Secretary (Higher Education)

Participation from 10 Top schools across the nation

Special workshops for the teachers by IIM Lucknow Professors

Mentorship and career counseling for school children by IIM Managers

Games covering all verticals of Management, and imbibing a sense of Team Work in the participants, apart from generating interest and appreciation for the importance of good management in all walks of life

Special appreciation for the Collaborative Team event, and talk by Prof. Archana Shukla, which showed the importance of team work and goal orientation to the participants.

Overall, this events proved to be a once in a life time experience for the visiting students, as they not only get to learn the management concepts from the best, but also get mentors for a life-time.

Concluded.

Contributed by -
Divya Chandran K.,
Coordinator, Media Relations Committee,
IIM Lucknow.

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