India celebrates the third anniversary of the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) today, July 29, Saturday. In this regard, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the second All India Shiksha Samagam at the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) complex in Delhi. The Prime Minister was seen interacting with the future stars of India. It is said that there were more than 200 exhibits and the PM was seen visiting them.
The PM released the first instalment of the SHRI Schools Yojana, which amounts to a total of 630 crores. Under the centrally-sponsored PM SHRI (Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India), about 14,500 schools across the nation will be developed as PMJ schools and will fulfill a basic objective of NEP 2020, which is imparting quality education.
In these schools, students will be nurtured to become engaged, productive and contributing citizens for building an equitable, inclusive and plural society, as envisaged by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Addressing the occasion, PM said, "The National Education Policy aims to make India a hub for research and innovation." And our educators have worked hard to strengthen our research ecosystem, he adds.
Indian languages
Speaking about the implementation of Indian languages in education, the PM said, "Judging a student who studied in their mother tongue is unfair. From Social Sciences to Engineering, studies will be pursued in Indian languages."
"If the youth have the confidence of the language, then their skills and talents will also shine," he stressed and said "With NEP, every Indian language will receive respect and growth."
New possibilities
"From traditional knowledge systems to futuristic technology, equal importance has been given to it all in the National Education Policy," he said. Further, citing new opportunities, he said, "Today the world is looking at India as a nursery of new possibilities."
"Two campuses are already being set up in other countries and many other countries are approaching us to open IIT (Indian Institutes of Technology) campuses there," PM highlighted.
Integration of education
Highlighting the aspects of NEP 2020, PM said, "One of the important aspects of NEP is that education should not be limited to textbooks. Therefore, the work to integrate vocational education and general education is going on. This will benefit students living in villages and rural areas."
"NEP 2020 will involve a new way of studying that will be interactive as well as interesting. NEP encourages practical training, and its vision is to provide equal opportunities to youngsters in all areas," the PM said.
"So far, many were not receiving education because remote areas lacked good schools. But now, under PM SHRI, over 1000 schools are being upgraded as PM SHRI schools," he said. Moreover, schools should help students be aware of subjects like disaster management, climate change and clean energy, he added, saying that students should be free to study and grow.
The prime minister also released education and skill curriculum books translated into 12 Indian languages. The two-day Akhil Bhartiya Shiksha Samagam inaugural witnessed the participation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar, officials, Kendriya Vidhyalaya students and others.
