The Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu believes the National Education Policy (NEP) seeks to make Indian education holistic, multi-disciplinary and practical. He said it can evolve the country into a global knowledge superpower.
While addressing the 13th convocation of National Institute of Technolgy (NIT), Agartala, Naidu underlined the need for the country to once again become a Vishwa Guru in the field of education. He said the NEP draws inspiration from the ancient Indian education system which used to focus on developing holistic and well-rounded personalities. The Vice President also called on the higher education institutions and universities to make India a thriving hub of knowledge and innovation. He advised the institutes to take up cutting edge research in various fields, establish synergy with industries and other similar institutions and turn the campuses into exciting centers of creativity and research.
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Naidu observed that it was time for the universities, IITs, NITs and other higher education institutions to fully reorient their teaching methods and equip the teachers with new pedagogical skills in tune with the 21st century requirements. He stressed the need to adopt an inter-disciplinary approach to address the challenges faced by mankind such as ending poverty, improving agricultural productivity and combating pollution and diseases amongst others. As such, Naidu urged the corporate sector to identify key research projects in various sectors and fund them under CSR initiatives; enhancing public and private investments in research is of vital importance for creating a knowledge-driven society.
Focus on the youths
Drawing focus on the youths, Naidu said 65 per cent of the country’s population was made of youths. He called for fully channelizing the energies of the youth and creating the right ecosystem for promoting entrepreneurship among them. Naidu said its time to tap their talents and skill for giving a fillip to Vocal for Local campaign. Institutions like NIT-Agartala have to be at the forefront in turning youth into job creators and not just job seekers, he said. The Vice President commended the NIT Agartala for adopting a nearby village with the aim of making them Model Villages. He urged the students to spend some time in villages to understand the challenges faced by rural India. Naidu also asked the educational institutions to enrich the knowledge of the students by making them aware of India’s ancient cultural heritage.
