Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reorient India’s Education Policy as per global benchmarks.
Addressing the PHDCCI Education Summit, 2022, Dr Jitendra Singh said NEP is the biggest path-breaking reform in India since independence as the new policy is not only progressive and visionary but is also in keeping with the emerging needs and requirements of 21st century India. He further said NEP gives due priorities to the inherent talent, knowledge, skill and aptitude of the students, rather than focusing only on degrees. He added that it also gives the young scholars and students enough room to decide their options depending upon their aptitude and their personal circumstances from time to time.
The minister said the policy advocates creative and multidisciplinary curriculum that includes humanities, languages, culture, sports and fitness, health and well-being, arts and crafts in addition to science and mathematics. It reflects the true essence of Swami Vivekananda’s Man-making Education, Sri Aurobindo’s Integral Education and Mahatma Gandhi’s Basic Education.
Dr Jitendra Singh stated that there are around 40 million Indians in higher education today.
He further said one of the most commendable opportunities that stem from the National Education Policy (NEP) is the chance for universities and colleges to incorporate entrepreneurship into their curriculum. If this is done in a meaningful manner, it has the potential to provide impetus to the nation’s economy in a fairly short period of time, he added.
The minister also pointed out that India has created a massive jump in its global ranking of Global Innovation Index (GII) from 81st in the year 2015 to 46th in 2021 among 130 economies of the world.
The minister concluded by saying that the NEP was launched to transform India’s education system through a multidisciplinary approach. With the National Education Policy completing two years on 29 July 2022, post its roll out, 2,774 Innovative Councils in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in 28 states and six union territories (UTs) have been established, as per an internal progress report by the Ministry of Education. As per the report, 2,000 institutions in higher education are set to begin as skill hubs and of this 700 have registered on the common portal of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
