Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan attends roundtable on implementing National Education Policy at Symbiosis International University at Pune today.

Speaking on the occasion Shri Pradhan said that National Education Policy 2020 is a knowledge document of the 21st century. It aims to promote all-round development of an individual and aims to make education accessible to everyone, he added. He said India has become the epicenter of knowledge based economy  and our contribution to the global economy is significant.

The Minister stressed that our academic fraternity have a big role to play in ensuring a rightful place for India in the new world. Ubiquity of technology and digital economies have made the world a small village. Today we are at the crossroads of an emerging new global order. How well we harmonise with technology and automation, acquire new skills will define our readiness for the future of work as well as for a leadership role in the emerging new global order. There is a huge opportunity for all of us here, especially for our academic community, he added.

Shri Pradhan highlighted that our education system had been rigid in the past. Multi-disciplinary and holistic education was a challenge but  NEP2020 has made it possible to make our teaching and learning more vibrant, inclusive, flexible and multi-disciplinary, he added.

Shri Pradhan said that in the last 75 years, we have been assertive and conscious about our ‘rights' and now is the time to walk on the path of ‘duties.’ There can be no one better than our teachers’ to drive home this point and shift the focus on performing duties and fulfilling responsibilities, he added.

He further said that online education is the new reality and teaching fraternity must build new academic dynamics & come forward for developing quality e-learning content, developing SOPs to ensure online learning is not limited to exploitative market forces and protecting against data imperialism.

Thr Minister urged that to create global citizens and meet global expectations in line with the NEP 2020, our academic institutions must also ensure that they become ‘instruments of knowledge and empowerment’ rather than being ‘instruments of materialistic expectations’.

*****

MJPS/AK