The National Education Policy 2020 sets a vision to implement an "equitable and vibrant" knowledge society by providing quality education that meets the requirement of the 21st century, said President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday.

"The National Education Policy (NEP) aims to reorient our educational system towards meeting the needs of the 21st century. It sets the vision of developing an equitable and vibrant knowledge society by providing quality education to all. It achieves twin objectives of inclusion & excellence," said the President. He further said that the NEP would discourage the habit of rote learning among the students and overemphasis on marks or grades that causes stress among students.

"The NEP seeks to discourage rote learning and overemphasis on marks or grades. It seeks to encourage critical thinking and a spirit of enquiry, the President added while addressing the Visitor's Conference on 'Implementation of National Education Policy 2020: Higher Education'.

While lauding the new education policy, the President said, "More than two lakh suggestions have been taken into consideration. Thus, the policy reflects a ground-level understanding of the challenges, aspirations and solutions of the education system." He further said that the role of the Centre should not be limited to 'setting norms' through agencies like the University Grants Commission adding that higher education institutions under the centre must set quality benchmarks.

"The Centre's role must not be limited to setting norms by the agencies like the University Grants Commission or the proposed Higher Education Commission of India. There should be a clear focus on quality--higher education institutes under the Centre must set quality benchmarks," he said further. The new National Education Policy strives for making India into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society. It envisions an India-centred education system that contributes directly to transforming India into a Global Superpower.