Event · 4th CBSE National Summit · 26 October 2026 · New Delhi
Design thinking at the CBSE National Summit.
Mathew Sebastian, Founding Board Member of The Institute of Human-Centred Design, joins the panel on Design Thinking, Creativity and Innovation for Skill Development at CBSE's 4th National Summit on 'Facilitating School to Work Transition'.
The session
Design Thinking, Creativity and Innovation for Skill Development.
Session 2 of Day 1 asks how schools can build the creative, problem-solving skills students need for the move from school to work.
| Time | Segment | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 12:00–12:15 PM | Keynote | Abhinav Singhal, Co-Founder, Inspireshalla, and Angel Investor |
| 12:15–1:00 PM | Session chair | Dr Sanyam Bhardwaj, Controller of Examinations, CBSE |
| 12:15–1:00 PM | Experts on the panel | Sauguta Chatterjee, Deputy CEO, Nippon AMC · Joseph Christo, National Head, HR & Administration, Joyalukkas · Sundeep Chhabra, EdTech & Skill Development Leader · Mathew Sebastian, Founding Board Member, The Institute of Human-Centred Design |
Our argument on the panel
Design thinking is how school turns into work.
It is a skill, not a subject: find a real problem, understand the people who live with it, and test a solution. Our case rests on a line of teaching that began with the late Prof. M. P. Ranjan at NID, and that HCD Institute has carried from one classroom to many, in service of Viksit Bharat.
01
NID, around 2007
Mathew Sebastian works as a researcher and junior designer under the late Prof. M. P. Ranjan, whose thinking shapes everything that follows.
02
Karnavati University
Prof. Ranjan's first design curriculum for Karnavati University.
03
MG University
Mathew's human-centred design curriculum for Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam.
04
The workbook
With Dr Deepak John Mathew, a design thinking workbook that builds innovation skills in students from Grade 5 to Grade 12.
How we take it into schools and colleges
Three ways in.
Schools
HCD Labs
Design thinking labs inside schools, run by a school's own teachers and supported by DIC Hub, IIT Hyderabad.
HCD Lab at SchoolSchools
Atal Tinkering Lab sessions
Design thinking sessions that give Atal Tinkering Labs a method: from a real problem to a tested prototype.
Graduate schools
DIC nodes
Design Innovation Centre nodes in colleges and universities, connected to DIC Hub, IIT Hyderabad.
India by Design · Viksit Bharat
All of it adds up to one idea: a better India, by design.
We call this work India by Design: students, teachers and institutions using design to solve the problems around them. It is our contribution to Viksit Bharat @2047, a developed India built by people who can find problems and solve them.
Day 1 programme · Monday, 26 October 2026
The full day.
From the inaugural session to the valedictory, as published by CBSE. Times are IST.
| Time | Session | Speakers |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00–11:00 AM | Inaugural session | Shri Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Minister of State for Education, Government of India · Shri T. K. Anil Kumar, IAS, Secretary, DoSE&L, Ministry of Education · Shri Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, NETF, Chairman of EC, NAAC and Chairman, NBA · Dr Mandeep K. Bhandari, IAS, Chairman, CBSE · Ms Prachi Pandey, IA&AS, Joint Secretary, DoSE&L, Ministry of Education · Shri Varun Bhardwaj, Secretary, CBSE · Prof. Biswajit Saha, Director (Skill Education), CBSE |
| 11:00–11:20 AM | Session 1 · Technology for Viksit & Cyber Safe Bharat: Technology, digital safety and emerging skills for the future workforce | Keynote: Shri Anoop Sreenivasan, Senior Product Management & Design Leader, Intuit, Silicon Valley, USA |
| 11:20 AM–12:00 noon | Session 1 · Panel | Chair: Shri Manoj Srivastava, Director (Training), CBSE · Panel: Shri Vinod Neelanath, GM & CPO, UST Global, Trivandrum · Ms Shipra Sharma, CSR Leader, IBM India · Prof. Pankaj Vajpayee, IIIT Delhi · Shri Manav Subodh, Founder, 1M1B |
| 12:00–12:15 PM | Session 2 · Design: Design thinking, creativity and innovation for skill development | Keynote: Shri Abhinav Singhal, Co-Founder, Inspireshalla, and Angel Investor |
| 12:15–1:00 PM | Session 2 · Panel | Chair: Dr Sanyam Bhardwaj, Controller of Examinations, CBSE · Panel: Shri Sauguta Chatterjee, Deputy CEO, Nippon AMC · Shri Joseph Christo, National Head, HR & Administration, Joyalukkas · Shri Sundeep Chhabra, EdTech & Skill Development Leader · Shri Mathew Sebastian, Founding Board Member, The Institute of Human-Centred Design |
| 1:00–1:15 PM | Session 3 · Recognising skills across borders: International perspectives on skills recognition and workforce mobility | Keynote: Shri George Thiveos, Minister-Counsellor (Education & Research), Australian High Commission, New Delhi |
| 1:15–2:00 PM | Session 3 · Panel | Chair: Prof. Biswajit Saha, Director (Skill Education), CBSE · Panel: Dr Liisa Toivonen, Counsellor for Science & Higher Education Policy, Embassy of Finland, New Delhi · Shri Mark Lemont, Director, World Mosaic · Shri Paul Heeren, Goethe-Institut · Dr Rodney Reviere, Cluster Coordinator, GIZ |
| 2:00–3:00 PM | Lunch, followed by a cultural programme | |
| 3:00–3:20 PM | Session 4 · Empowering individuals, transforming society: Role models and career pathways, skills, leadership and social impact | Keynote: Ms Vinitha Balakrishnan, Advocate, Supreme Court of India |
| 3:20–4:00 PM | Session 4 · Panel | Chair: Prof. Praggya M. Singh, Director (Academics), CBSE · Panel: Ms Shivani Malik, Marketing Director, Da Milano · Ms Poorna Malavath, Everest Explorer, Bengaluru · Ms Jaya Tare, CEO, Newrizon Space · Ms Chhavi Rajawat, Entrepreneur |
| 4:00–4:30 PM | Valedictory session | Dr Joseph Emmanuel, CEO & Secretary, CISCE · Prof. Biswajit Saha, Director (Skill Education), CBSE · Shri Manoj Srivastava, Director (Training), CBSE · Prof. Praggya M. Singh, Director (Academics), CBSE · Shri Sanjib Das, Director (Affiliation), CBSE |
Day 2 runs on Tuesday, 27 October 2026. For the Day 2 programme, registration and any changes, see CBSE's official notices below.
About the summit
Facilitating school to work transition.
The 4th CBSE National Summit on 'Facilitating School to Work Transition' runs on 26–27 October 2026 at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, 15 Janpath Road, Windsor Place, New Delhi, organised by CBSE with the Sahodaya School Complexes of Delhi/NCR. Day 1 opens with an inaugural session led by Shri Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Minister of State for Education, Government of India.
Four sessions follow on Day 1: technology, digital safety and emerging skills; design thinking, creativity and innovation; international perspectives on skills recognition; and role models and career pathways.
On the panel
Mathew Sebastian.
Founding Board Member of The Institute of Human-Centred Design and a Fellow at DIC Hub, IIT Hyderabad. An industrial designer from NID Ahmedabad, where he worked as a researcher and junior designer under the late Prof. M. P. Ranjan, Mathew has worked in design for around 18 years, including with Nokia, Panasonic and Emirates, and teaches design thinking at NID, NIFT and IIT. He wrote the human-centred design curriculum for MG University and co-authored, with Dr Deepak John Mathew, a design thinking workbook for students from Grade 5 to Grade 12.
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For CBSE schools