Future of Education and Skilling | In Thailand
School Leaders' Conference 2022

Dr Berthold Franke, studied Music, German Literature and Social Sciences. He joined the Goethe-Institut in 1988 and has held posts in Warsaw, Dakar, Stockholm, Paris, Brussels and Prague. Since 2018 he has been director of the Max Mueller Bhavan in New Delhi and Regional Director of the Goethe-Institut in South Asia (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iran).

Veronika Taranzinskaja joined the Goethe-Institut New Delhi in 2019 as a Teaching Expert and Head of PASCH South Asia with a regional assignment. She graduated in German Studies and Politics at the TU Berlin and Management of Culture and Non-Profit Organisations at the TU Kaiserslautern. In Berlin, she was a mentor for young migrants, helped them on their paths to professional careers and contributed as an author to the evaluation "Fit for Education and Civil Society". In recent years, Ms Taranzinskaja has worked as a teacher in higher secondary and vocational schools and as a project responsible in three continents.

Puneet Kaur is head of Educational Services at Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi and is engaged in different German-Teachers-Associations. She is also a founding member and President of the Indo German Teachers Association “InDaF” – a registered society with over 1000 members. 
Since 2014 she is the General Secretary of the International German Teachers Association-(IDV). This is the umbrella organization of all German Teachers Association worldwide.
For decades, she has been closely connected with the German language and culture but also has a great curiosity about everything else that moves the world.

Mr Md. Morshedul Islam is the Principal of the European Standard School (ESS).
He completed Bachelor of Technology (Hons) in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology(IIT)-Kharagpur, India in 1996 and earned an EMBA degree in Finance from Bangladesh University of Professionals in 2010. 
He started his professional career as a ‘Junior Design Engineer’ in Development Design consultants in 1996. He has served in Bangladesh Army in 1998. He started his teaching profession as Mathematics Teacher for O and A levels at Mastermind School in January 1999. 
He is also the Founder President of the Bangladesh English Medium Schools’ Assistance Foundation (BEMSAF).

Damayanti Mukherjee has been involved with school education for the past 27years ever since she completed her Master's in English Literature with a follow up of a teaching Diploma. She has worked in National curricula( CBSE /ICSE) and international curricula ( IGCSE and International Baccalaureate-all levels ) across schools in India. Ms Mukherjee is a TEDx speaker and serves International Baccalaureate Organisation independently as a subject expert. 
She currently serves as Principal of Modern High School for Girls, Kolkata-MHS

Isabell Jenninger is a specialist in international HR management with vast expertise in the area of global talent acquisition and skill development. In her role as Head – DUALpro & ProRecognition, she is driving the skill development and migration activities of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce across India. While the project ProRecognition, which is funded by the German government, advises international professionals on the recognition of their qualifications and employment in Germany, DUALpro assists organisations in setting up vocational training programmes based on the German dual education system.

Nelum Senadira is the Principal of Musaeus College, a leading private girls' school in Sri Lanka with a history of 130 years. Founded by Ms Marie Musaeus Higgins, a German educationist, the school caters for 6,500+ girls from the Nursery to G.C.E. Advanced Level classes. She has been associated with Musaeus College for over 4 decades being a student, a parent, a teacher, Deputy Principal and now the Principal.  
She was also the Education USA Adviser at the US-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission where she was the point of contact for the students who sought information and advice on applying to American universities. This position gave her many experiences in studying education systems the world over.  

Sanath Jayalath obtained his Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Kelaniya and two Master's degrees from the University of Colombo and the University of Kelaniya. He has two Postgraduate Diplomas in Information Technology from the University of Moratuwa and in teaching English as a foreign language from the University of Colombo. in 1987 he started as a teacher of English and served for 20 years in government schools. In 2007, he joined the National e-Learning centre at the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC).
He is currently, the Principal of the Royal College Colombo. He served for 12 years as an Assistant Director of Education in the National Schools Branch and later as the Deputy Director in the English and Foreign Languages Branch.

Sobia Afzal is a passionate and dynamic educationalist and speaker. She is currently working as the Principal of Roots International Schools and Colleges, Wellington Campus, Islamabad, Pakistan for the last 10 years. She has a rich experience of 15 years which ranges from school teaching and management to training for personality and character development. She has got a degree in MSc Applied psychology from Punjab University that supports her in helping students and teachers improve the learning experience. She is a strong advocate of bringing betterment in education and today she is here to talk about the most emerging and much needed sustainable goal i.e. Life skills-based education.

Rita Sen is a trained postgraduate in English Literature. She retired in 2015 after a long stint as Principal, DPS Rohini, Delhi, a school that she founded and nurtured for 20 years. 
Recipient of the National Award for Teachers from the President of India in 2007, Ms Sen was also appointed by the LG, Delhi as a member of the Delhi Education Advisory Board for 2 terms. She served as the Chief Nodal Officer for Class XII CBSE evaluation for English Core for many years, was a CBSE Master Trainer for CCE and was the recipient of a certificate for in-service training from the Principal’s Training College, London, UK.
Ms Sen is also a successful author with Encyclopedia Britannica and Encyclopedia Indiannica.

Marco Krinowski is the International Marketing Manager at Fulda University of Applied Sciences. He´s got a university background in Intercultural Communication (M.A) as well as personal experience studying and working abroad. Mr Krinowski has developed and pursued communication and recruiting strategies at different higher education institutions in Germany for almost seven 

Amin Kassai, born in Tehran, Iran, went to school in Vienna. He completed his Master's degree in German as a Foreign Language in Tehran in 1997. Since 2000 he has been working at the German Language Institute of the German Embassy in Tehran (DSIT) as Head of German Educational Cooperation (DSIT). his responsibilities include the supervision of PASCH and other private schools, cooperation with universities and other educational institutions, teacher training and continuing education within the framework of the "Green Diploma".

Maha Jafarey is an educator, administrator, event manager and homemaker. She was brought up in Germany and has an educational background up to the university level from there. She has pioneered German language education in Karachi, teaching students at several levels, ranging from Kindergarten to University students. Additionally, she has been managing PASCH schools in Karachi and Islamabad as part of the Goethe Institut Pakistan team since 2016. She was also the founding coordinator of the Pakistan German Business Forum, linking businesses in Pakistan with those in Germany and has experience in the airline industry as well while she was working for Lufthansa German Airlines as Director of Business Development.
She enjoys German and Urdu classics as she appreciates the fine nuances of these languages

Rakitha Karunaratne studied economics at the University of Bonn up to the intermediate examination. Later he studied Translation/Interpreting for English and Spanish at the University of Applied Sciences in Cologne. After his MA degree in translation, he studied Indology, English and Romance Studies at the University of Cologne. Parallelly, he completed his Goethe training at the Open University of Hagen. In Sri Lanka, he taught German at the University of Kelaniya and Sabaragamuwa until 2006, after which he worked as a teacher trainer at Goethe-Institut Sri Lanka. Since 2013, he has been the Head of Language Department at the Institute and is also responsible for the PASCH and BKD networks in Sri Lanka. He has published two textbooks, "Viel Spaß" for young people in Sri Lanka on A1 level and "Kulturbeutel" a regional textbook for teaching German for tourism.

Sonali Sahgal has been working at the Goethe-Institut New Delhi since 2013. Having completed her teachers training program ‘Das Grüne Diplom’ in the same here, she has taught course participants at levels ranging from A1 to B2.1. In 2020 she took over as Project Manager and since then has been working on projects for the Goethe-Institut involving pre Integration training for teachers, students and working professionals in the realm of migration of Skilled Workers.

Dr. Katja Lasch is the Director of the DAAD Regional Office New Delhi. She is responsible for the coordination and strategic development of the DAAD activities in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. At the same time, she heads the German Centre for Research and Innovation (DWIH) New Delhi and is responsible for its strategic management. Prior to her work in India, she headed the DAAD’s International Research Marketing Division at the head office in Bonn and the DAAD Information Centre in Bucharest (Romania). 
Her professional focus and interests lie in the field of international university and research cooperation, science-based entrepreneurship and marketing for higher education and research institutions. Katja Lasch holds a doctorate in history and is also qualified in business administration.

Thomas Kaiser can look back on more than 10 years of work experience in China. He spent the last five years at the German Embassy in Beijing, acting as managing director for the Academic Evaluation Center (APS). The APS is a joint institution of the DAAD and the German Federal Foreign Office, focusing on the verification of academic study records. Thomas Kaiser arrived in New Delhi this February to oversee the establishment of India’s first APS branch. 

Ms Azadeh Hartmann-Alampour was born in 1980 in Iran. From 2003 to 2010 she studied Sociology, Political Science and Romanic Studies at RWTH Aachen University. From 2010 to the present, is she a staff member of the International Office at the RWTH Aachen University 

Anita Mitra has been working at the Goethe-Institut Kolkata for almost 15 years. Anita is a teacher of German as a foreign language, a teacher trainer and has been responsible for the Pasch und BKD network in eastern India since 2012.
The focus of her work is the conception and execution of children's and youth events on current topics, seminars and teacher training for teachers as well as the professional support of educational institutions in the field of German as a foreign language.

Tanvi Duggal has vast experience in teaching German as a foreign language in different schools and has worked on many educational projects to strengthen cultural and social exchange among students from diverse regions. She also served as a German Audit team member with Ernst and Young Group.
She completed her German language certification from the Goethe Institut / Max New Delhi and Dresden, Germany and is an Alumna of Maitreyi College, Delhi University.