A dialogue on the “New Education Policy 2020 – NEP Outreach”, was organized by the Nehru Centre, London with National Book Trust, India (under Ministry of Education) on 18 January, 2021.

Speaking on the occasion, Union of Education Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, Minister said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the NEP-2020 has been implemented with a futuristic mindset, thereby turning the challenges into opportunities. It will equip India to hold a position in the global knowledge system while maintaining and developing its traditional knowledge system. “Through the policy, we are hoping to transform education and putting a significant thrust on learning about how to think critically and solve problems, how to be creative and multidisciplinary, and how to innovate, adapt, and absorb new material in the novel and changing fields. Pedagogy is expected to evolve to make education more experiential, holistic, integrated, inquiry-driven, discovery-oriented, learner-centred, discussion-based, flexible, and, of course, enjoyable,” the Minister added.

Shri Vinay Sahastrabuddhe, President, ICCR, in his opening remarks said that the NEP-2020 is one of the greatest reforms presented by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

Rt. Hon Jo Johnson, Educationist, Former Minister for Universities, Science, Research & Innovation, United Kingdom, lauded India’s NEP-2020 as an event of global significance and as a policy that will turn India into a global knowledge superpower, emphasizing its strong focus on early years, teachers, universal numeracy & literacy, etc. He also mentioned that the exciting fact about NEP-2020 is that it proposes to shift the mode of assessment from summative to formative, testing higher order skills like critical thinking, analysis and conceptual clarity.

Rt. Hon Jo Johnson and Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ also engaged in a dialogue on various provisions of the NEP-2020, such as teacher training, entry of top 100 foreign universities in India, and education in Indian HEIs.

The engaging and enlightening event was moderated by Shri Amish Tripathi, Minister (Culture), High Commission of India, UK and Director, The Nehru Centre.

*****

MC\AK