PM addresses Education Conclave

PM addresses Education Conclave

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the inaugural address at the ‘Conclave on Transformational Reforms in Higher Education under National Education Policy’ here on Friday through video conference.

The conclave has been organised by the Ministry of Education and University Grants Commission. Union Minister for Education Ramesh Pokhriyal; Union Minister of State for Education, Sanjay Dhotre; Secretary, Higher Education, Amit Khare also participated in the event. A number of dignitaries including the Chairman, UGC, D.P. Singh took part in the conclave.

Speaking on the occasion, the PM mentioned that the National Education Policy was approved after extensive deliberations over 3-4 years. He noted that healthy debate and discussions are taking place on National Education policy across the country. National Education Policy aims at making the youth Future Ready while focusing on the National Values and National Goals.

The PM said that for years the education system remained unchanged leading to lopsided priorities where people were focusing on either becoming a doctor, an engineer or a lawyer. There was no mapping of the interest, ability and demand. He said that holistic approach was needed, which the National Education Policy has achieved successfully.

PM addresses Education Conclave

PM said that India has the ability to give solutions of talent and technology to the whole world, and that the National Education Policy also addresses this responsibility, which aims at developing many technology-based content and courses. He said that concepts like virtual labs are going to carry the dream of better education to millions of peers who could not read such subjects before, which required Lab Experiment. National Education Policy is also going to play an important role in ending the gap of research and education in our country.

PM said that the policy focuses on developing a strong teaching system where teachers can in turn produce good professionals and good citizens. There is a great emphasis on teacher training in national education policy, they are constantly updating their skills, there is a lot of emphasis on this.

PM urged people to work together with determination to implement the National Education Policy. He said that a new round of dialogue and coordination with Universities, Colleges, School education boards, different states, different stakeholders is about to start from here. He urged to continue the webinar on National Education Policy and keep discussing it. He expressed confidence that in this Conclave, better suggestions, effective solutions will come out regarding Effective Implementation of National Education Policy.

PM addresses Education Conclave

While addressing the participants, Pokhriyal said that the National Education Policy 2020 is the first education policy of the 21st century and aims to address the many growing developmental imperatives of our Country. He added that a different perspective of education has been formulated in National Education Policy 2020, wherein the target to be achieved are– complete brain development and learning at school level, a transformed, large and multidisciplinary vision of imparting knowledge at higher education level and finally creating an appropriate and hassle free education eco-system of transferring information & knowledge to the learners in New India. He further added that it is not just a policy document but a reflection of the aspirations of a common education pursuer of India.

Pokhriyal said that the 21st century is the era of Globalization and ever-increasing Institutional competitiveness. This is the time for increased focus on learning, research, innovation and this is exactly what India’s National Education Policy, 2020 does. It replaces the 34-year-old National Policy on Education framed in 1986 and is aimed at paving the way for transformational reforms in school and higher education systems to make India a global knowledge superpower.

The Minister highlighted that the Higher education plays an extremely important role in promoting human as well as societal well- being and in developing India as envisioned in its Constitution. As India moves towards becoming a knowledge economy and society, more and more young Indians are likely to aspire for higher education. He further said that the new policy makes way for three categories of institutions – research focused universities, teaching focused universities, autonomous colleges. He added that this policy provides a roadmap for re-energising of the system to deliver high-quality higher education, with equity and inclusion.

The conclave held several sessions dedicated to significant aspects of education covered under the National Education Policy, 2020 like Holistic, Multidisciplinary and futuristic education, Quality Research, and Equitable use of technology for better reach in Education. Vice-Chancellors of universities, Directors of Institutions and Principals of colleges and other stakeholders participated in the programme.