Presented byKhaitan Education Centre
An Invitation to Dialogue

The Future
Starts Early

The foundations remain. The approach evolves.Khaitan kiwi mascot

The alphabet hasn't changed. The world has. A day-long dialogue on what our youngest children need from education now — and who they need to become through learning.

Saturday31 October 2026
Khaitan World SchoolGhaziabad
Six VoicesOne Conversation

The invitation

Alongside asking what children need to learn, we ask a more important question — who do they need to become through learning?

Not a child made ready for school,

but a school made ready for the child.

Over time, education has responded to a changing world by adding more — social-emotional learning, inclusion, creativity, technology, critical thinking. What if the next shift is not about adding more, but about bringing it all together?

The conversation

Three questions at the heart of the day

Curiosity. Communication. Confidence. Empathy. Adaptability. These are not alternatives to literacy and numeracy — they are what allow children to use knowledge with thought, purpose and agency.

What must we preserve?

What remains timeless and non-negotiable about childhood and the way young children learn?

What must we rethink?

As the purpose of what we teach changes, how should the way we teach change?

What must become interconnected?

How can literacy, numeracy, social-emotional development, inclusion and individual strengths become one learning experience?

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Six voices · different lenses · one conversation

No single discipline can answer these questionsKhaitan kiwi mascot

The Future Starts Early brings together educators, pedagogic experts and child-development specialists who see the child, the classroom and the changing world from different vantage points.

Dr Swati Popat Vats

The Early Years Lens

Dr Swati Popat Vats

Early Childhood Educationist

Maya Menon

The Educator & School-Culture Lens

Maya Menon

Founder Director, The Teacher Foundation

Vidushi Chaudhary

The Individual Learner Lens

Vidushi Chaudhary

Gifted Education & Personalised Learning Specialist

Suhasini Kanwar

The Parent–School Lens

Suhasini Kanwar

Early Childhood & Parent Engagement, TGA Healthy Planet

Samara Gupta

The Experiential Learning Lens

Samara Gupta

Socio-Emotional Wellbeing through Movement & Music

Shelja Sen

The Child-Development Lens

Shelja Sen

Child Psychologist, Children First

Mamta KapoorPanel moderated by Mamta Kapoor · Executive Director, Education, KEC