New Delhi: Topmost institutes as well as various countries have hailed India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 as the world’s ‘biggest reform’ and shown interest in implementing it, said Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ Saturday.
The minister, who was addressing the 97th annual convocation of Delhi University, said the new education policy that has been brought into place after “much deliberation” will see India “reform, perform and transform”.
He also praised the policy calling it “impactful, interactive, innovative and inclusive” built on the cornerstone of “equity, quality and access”.
“Cambridge, the UAE, Australia, Mauritius, Indonesia, .. And many others have said India’s NEP is the world’s biggest reform and that they want to implement in their countries as well. It is both national and international, supports ‘vocal for local’ and also local for global. This will bring a new set of opportunities for students,” said Nishank, encouraging Delhi University to be the “flag-bearer” of the policy and implement it in “mission-mode”.
The NEP, approved by the Union Cabinet, replaces the 34-year-old National Policy on Education framed in 1986. It is aimed at paving the way for transformational reforms in school and higher education systems to make India a global knowledge superpower.
The 61-year-old leader here also counted on the various achievements of India’s education system during the pandemic year. Like how it worked tirelessly in implementing “digital education”, transformed homes into schools and didn’t let the year go waste for India’s 33 crore students — more than the total population of the USA.
To give an idea of how herculean the task was, the minister even shared the data on the size of Indian education system: “1,000 universities”, “50,000 degree colleges”, “15 lakh schools” and “1.10 crore teachers”.
“We conducted the exams on time, the results were out on time, and also JEE or NEET — world’s biggest examination in the corona era — were conducted successfully. Also, we provided online education to 33 crore students. This was huge, something that you don’t even think of in your dreams, but we did it and did it successfully,” he noted.
PTI