On July 29, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 completed two years. The occasion was celebrated at an event in Delhi at 4 pm on July 29, in which many students, educators and teachers participated along with the government’s legislative and executive bodies. The meeting was streamed live on YouTube.
The event was coordinated by students from Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) and the discussions began with a short address by Union Secretary of School Education, Anita Karwal, who praised the achievements of the NEP, stating that “it paves the way forward” for Atmanirbhar Bharat and a bright future. Union Minister of Education, Dharmendra Pradhan, addressed the meeting as the first chief guest.
“When the whole world was worried about COVID-19, the NEP was introduced. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi saw the crisis as an opportunity and sought to change the education system. The NEP isn’t the future of India, it is the present. And we are working towards implementing it. Home Minister Amit Shah has asked our team every week about the progress. I admit it has been delayed, but now we will be speeding up the process,” shared Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Remembering Swami Vivekananda
Amit Shah addressed the gathering as the second chief guest. He said, “People may look at the NEP from various perspectives. Some may see it as a medium to acquire skills for jobs, some may see it as a medium to harness students’ talents, some may see it as a solution for unemployment and so on. But I see it as PM Modi saw it – it is the foundation for building a great India and it will also be the reason that India will be great. A country becomes great not by its land but by its citizens. And the NEP is the means for building amazing citizens.”
Shah referred to Swami Vivekananda and his definition of education. “True education is the one which infuses the values of struggle for one’s life, good character, helping others and courage like a lion’s. The NEP also hones this vision. The policy was put together after a lot of thought, discussion, consultation and suggestions from lakhs of people from every corner of India. It seeks to integrate education, science and culture. It provides thrust to our lives,” Shah added.
“As Modiji has said, the 21st century is an era of knowledge. And to channelise this knowledge properly, the NEP has been made. A viral buzz has already been created over it and I see it as a sign of success. The NEP will prove to be a superpower,” he said further. The Minister went on to elaborate on the benefits of the policy. He emphasised that it has been designed in such a way that education will be tension-free for everyone, both students and academicians in future. He also stated that, for the first time, mother tongue has been given prime importance in education under the NEP. "Education will henceforth involve three languages, the mother tongue, the national language and English," he stated.
“A child thinks in his mother tongue. And if we don’t give importance to it, we are taking away the proper thinking ability from the child. We want citizens who are not only successful but can also make something big out of their lives. And this is not possible until a person develops excellent thinking ability. His thought process needs to be enhanced and there was no provision for this in the education system,” Shah said.
“The 90-page NEP isn’t a book, it is a library in itself. A lot of thought was put behind every word in it. With it, we can build famous universities in India once more, which will amaze the world. India will be a global education hub. By 2023, we are aiming to build a multi-disciplinary higher education hub in every district or in every two districts, at least. It is challenging but I’m sure the Education Ministry will be able to achieve it,” he said.
“Change is already being seen in the education sector after these two years. We have received support from many state administrations. Entrance exams like JEE, NEET and CUET have been conducted in seven regional languages this year. Various courses are also being introduced in regional languages. We will also take this approach for technical education soon,” Shah concluded.
What else happened?
The event was zhuzhed up with cultural events and screening of short documentaries. The cultural events, consisting of two songs and a street play based on the NEP, its benefits, visions and programmes under it, were put up by the students of KV. The crux of the cultural programmes was to highlight how the NEP has enabled students to have a fun learning experience at the school level.
The documentary films were also based on the achievements of the NEP. The first film discussed the workshops and programmes held under the policy, its benefits and its advantages till date. The second film, on the other hand, highlighted the ten most significant initiatives introduced under the NEP, including the National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF), Vidya Amrit Portal, 200 new virtual labs, Digital University and many more.
Union Higher Education Secretary Sanjay Murthy, Minister of Education for State Annapurna Devi and Subhas Sarkar, and Minister of IT and Skill Development Rajeev Chandrasekhar were also present at the event as dignitaries.
