Amritsar: Delegates attending the G20 Education Working Group meeting here on Thursday deliberated on strengthening research, promoting innovation through collaboration and building capacities.

More than 55 delegates from G20 countries, guest countries, and invited organisations such as UNICEF are participating in the three-day event which began on Wednesday.

The meeting was chaired by Union Secretary Higher Education K Sanjay Murthy with Secretary School Education and Literacy Sanjay Kumar and Secretary in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Atul Kumar Tiwari as alternate chairs, according to an official statement issued here.

Presentations were also made by Research Innovation Initiative Gathering (RIIG), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and UNICEF during the meet's second day.

The event brought together all G20 member countries, invited countries and international organisations to discuss the importance of knowledge sharing and collaboration to generate solutions to common global challenges.

The G20 countries stressed on identifying and addressing problems that inhibit effective academic research collaborations, the statement said.

It was also acknowledged that, in order to create a multiplier effect for a larger and more inclusive global advantage of "our accumulated knowledge and innovation skills, there is now a need for stronger collaboration among countries in research and innovation", it said.

Some of the topics covered included developing a framework for joint collaboration for the exchange of researchers and students, international research, data privacy, and other ethical concerns, the statement said.

During the meeting, the delegates also stressed on gender equality and gender inclusion in the research arena as well as improved grassroots participation in order to bridge the gap between academia, the private sector and society.

In the second and third sessions of the day, discussions were centered around use of blended learning to achieve foundational literacy and numeracy, the importance of teacher training to induce creativity in classroom teaching by designing learning materials and development of skill development frameworks.

Collaboration was again a key point of the sessions with discussions revolving around building partnerships with wider stakeholders, including industry to create opportunities for vocational learning for students to bridge the skill gaps and imbalances across G20 nations, the statement said.

Some of the sub-priority areas mentioned for joint action were- to develop curriculum assessment and pedagogical practices, provide equal opportunities, and support to disadvantaged and indigenous communities.

The meeting concluded with remarks from Tiwari who emphasised that in order to achieve SDG 4's goal of "ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all", "we must ensure that blended learning opportunities are accessible to all students", the statement said.

The second education working group meeting was preceded by a seminar on March 15 on the topic 'Strengthening research and promoting innovation through richer collaboration'.