Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the National Education Policy (NEP) focused on making children skilled according to their talents and choices.
After inaugurating a three-day Akhil Bhartiya Shiksha Samagam on implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) in Varanasi, which is being attended by over 300 academic, administrative and institutional leaders, the Prime Minister said the educational system should not only prepare degree holder youth, but also ensure that all the human resources necessary for the country’s progress were available.
“Our youth should be skilled, confident, practical and calculative, education policy is preparing the ground for this,” he said, adding that there was a need for the institutions to work on the future requirements of the talented young generation. He said the youth was taking initiatives in areas like the space technology, new opportunities were opening up for girls and women. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the country was today one of the fastest growing economies in the world and it was the third largest start-up ecosystem in the world.
Stating that the new policy, which was introduced after a gap of 30 years, would be instrumental in realising innumerable possibilities, Mr. Modi said, “The education system created by the Britishers was never part of the Indian ethos...the basic premise of the NEP is to take education out of narrow thinking and connect it with the modern ideas of the 21st century.”
The Prime Minister said the Indian ethos of education was multi-sectoral and the same approach was required in a new system with modern processes. Highlighting the importance of research work, he asked for a “lab-to-land” attitude and also asked the institutions to value practical experience and fieldwork.
Mr. Modi said in the field of alternative medicines including Ayurveda, there was a need for evidence-based research. Subjects like the best possible use of the country’s demographic dividend, finding solutions to the challenges of ageing societies, cleanliness through waste recycling and climate change also provided a wide range of research opportunities.
The Prime Minister said although the NEP was implemented about two years ago, his government had been working diligently for its proper implementation. He personally attended many seminars and events to talk on the issue.
Besides, the government had also been focusing on a big overhaul of the education infrastructure. While several new colleges, universities, IITs and IIMs were set up, there was a 55% increase in the number of medical colleges after 2014. The Common Entrance Test (CET) for universities had been introduced. The world ranking of several Indian institutions was also improving gradually.
The NEP had opened up ways for pursuing education in the mother tongue. Ancient Indian languages like Sanskrit were also being carried forward, he said.
Expressing confidence that India could emerge as a big centre of global education, Mr. Modi said the government had issued guidelines to prepare the Indian higher education as per international standards. Special offices had been established in 180 universities for international affairs of the institutions. He asked the participants to hold such events in the institutions and send suggestions to further better the system.
Among those present on the occasion were Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Earlier on in the day, the Prime Minister visited a government school and interacted with several children in Varanasi.
