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 Over 55 delegates from G20 member countries, guest countries and invited organisations comprising OECD, Unesco and Unicef will be attending the three-day Second G20 Education Working Group meeting, beginning here on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Education is hosting seminars, an exhibition and working group meetings.

The seminar on 'Strengthening research and promoting innovation through richer collaboration' will be organised at Khalsa College by IIT Ropar with collaborative input from higher education institutions such as IISc Bengaluru, IIM Amritsar and TISS Mumbai.

The seminar on Wednesday will begin with a presentation from Govindan Rangarajan, Director, IISc Bengaluru, on 'Research initiatives in G20 countries' with inputs provided by G20 members and invitee countries in the seminar.

The seminar will also include two panel discussions, one on 'Research in emerging and disruptive technologies, Industry -- 4.0' to be chaired by Rajeev Ahuja, Director, IIT Ropar, and second one on 'Research in sustainable development goals' to be chaired by Shalini Bharat, director, TISS Mumbai.

The panel discussion will see participation from France, Britain, Australia, India, Oman, South Africa, Unicef, China and the UAE.

A multimedia exhibition will also be organised on the sidelines of the seminar that will provide a physical format to the participating countries along with industry, academia to present the best practices in research, innovation, collaboration and partnership.

There will be 90 plus stalls at the exhibition with key participation from the UAE, China and Saudi Arabia, NSDC, NCERT, National Book Trust, Indian Knowledge Systems Division (IKS) and several start-up initiatives.

The exhibition will also be open to local institutions, students, academicians and researchers from March 16 to 17.

The two-day meeting on March 16 and 17 will provide a platform to deliberate on the four priority areas.

They are: Ensuring foundational literacy and numeracy, especially in context of blended learning; Making tech-enabled learning more inclusive, qualitative and collaborative at every level; Building capacities, promoting lifelong learning in the context of future of work; and Strengthening research, promoting innovation through richer collaboration and partnerships.

The meetings will be chaired by Union Higher Education Secretary K. Sanjay Murthy, with Secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy, Sanjay Kumar, and Secretary of the Ministry of Skill Development Atul Kumar Tiwari as Alternate Chairs.

More than 55 delegates are expected to attend the meeting and seminar, where they will share their best practices for strengthening research and innovation.

The outcomes of the four Education Working Group meetings will be essential to draft the final declaration document to be shared at the concluding ministerial meeting, an official statement said.

The document will serve as a guideline for the development of numerous educational and employment opportunities.

The meetings will also give participating countries and organisations the opportunity to strengthen educational cooperation and discuss new collaboration opportunities.

Delegates will be taken to the Golden Temple on March 17 as part of the excursion. On the sidelines of the G20 meetings, cultural events are also planned to highlight Punjab's vibrant culture.