M Venkaiah Naidu: Glad that NEP focuses on age-old Indian values in education system

A value-based education system for all-round development of our country's youth is what the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 lays great focus on, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said during the launch of the All India Essay Event 2020 virtually on Friday. "All of this while, especially after the country's independence, we have not focused enough on our education system and inculcating the age-old values in it. I am glad that new NEP focuses on value-based education, which will help develop the right habits, values among youth. The NEP also lays down a multidisciplinary approach for the holistic development of students, which this essay competition and the Heartfulness Institute has been doing over the years," he added.

Heartfulness Institute in collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre and Shri Ram Chandra Mission launched the 28-year-old event virtually. The event ropes in thousands of institutions and students to write essays on carefully curated topics that will encourage discussion and debate to help students understand those better. The topic for Classes 9-12 this year is 'Thought pollution- root cause of all ills' and for undergraduate and postgraduate students is 'Poverty is not just lack of money- Amartya Sen'. To register, students can visit www.younghearts.org.

The Vice President emphasised that intuitive essay writing and the introspection on these topics help in the stimulation of the younger minds, they think properly, take their lives in a positive manner. "The name heartfulness itself can provide momentum to inner growth, towards peace and prosperity.  Currently, students can write essays in English, Hindi and 9 other Indian languages but in future, it will be conducted in other languages and they will be able to express their views in their mother tongue. And that is extremely important," he said.

Naidu went on to explain how meditation and understanding of the inner self can help in these times of crisis and strengthen the mind. "Adversity is the time when our character is tested when we move together with our values nothing can stop us. Spirituality, meditation gives you more strength to withstand this sort of pressure on the mind of individuals. The best way to get relieved of this pressure is to have some spiritual meditation to reduce stress. There is a greater need for inculcating compassion, empathy, respect for elders, return to our roots, traditional methods of teaching and learning to rebuild the values, which the NEP also suggests. Value-based teaching, learning must be an integral part of the delivery in this fast-paced world. Universities, colleges and higher educational institutes should aim to make India the hub of information and education. We must have greater thrust on research, investment from both public and private sectors and thus impart the right values to youngsters," he added.

Finally, he concluded by saying that we will be able to defeat the Coronavirus. "The best way to address our fears is to meditate that will give us additional strength. Fear is what is affecting the people more than the virus," he said.

Heartfulness (www.heartfulness.org) is a lifestyle based on simple meditative practices and skills. It has been around for over 100 years. With over 4 million practitioners, Heartfulness has been adopted in thousands of schools and colleges, and over 250,000 professionals have been introduced to Heartfulness in corporations, non-governmental and government bodies worldwide.