Union Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan addressed the inaugural session on the 2nd day of National School Education Ministers' Conference today. Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel; Chief Minister of Goa Shri Pramod Sawant; Union Ministers of State for Education and Skill Development, Education Ministers of State Governments Chairperson of Steering committee for developing a new National Curriculum Framework, Shri K Kasturirangan and senior officials from Ministry of Education and State Governments attended the conference.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Pradhan said that school education is the foundation of a knowledge-based society and National education policy (NEP) is a knowledge document that aims to promote all-round development and make education accessible to everyone.

The Minister said that we are in the age of Amrit Kaal. The next 25 years are crucial to establish India as a knowledge economy that is committed to global welfare, he added. We are a civilisation which believes in Vasudhaiv Kutumbukam and we must realise that we have not only responsibilities of our nation but also that of the world.

The Minister urged that as we prepare for the opportunities and challenges of the 21st century, we must leverage technology to strengthen our education & skilling ecosystem. Yesterday, during the visit to various education and skilling institutions we all got a glimpse of various dimensions of 21st century futuristic education systems, he added.

The Minister highlighted 5+3+3+4 approach of NEP covering pre-school to secondary, emphasis on ECCE, teacher training & adult education, integration of skill development with school education and prioritising learning in mother tongue which are steps for preparing global citizens of the 21st century.

The Minister informed that the Government is in the process of establishing PM Shri schools which will be fully equipped to prepare students for the future. These state-of-the-art schools will be the laboratory of NEP 2020. He solicited suggestions and feedback from all our states/UTs and the entire education ecosystem for creating a futuristic benchmark model in the form of PM Shri schools.

The Minister stressed that experience amd knowledge sharing from all state Education Ministers in structured and outcome-based discussions at the conference today will lead one step further towards transforming the learning landscape, in line with the NEP 2020. He expressed confidence that the deliberations taking place in this conference will go a long way in strengthening the education system across the country.

Addressing a conference Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri Bhupendra Patel clearly stated that, realizing the need to constantly redefine and redesign the teaching and learning process, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has changed the 34 year old education policy and has given the new national education policy to the country considering knowledge as the best treasure as per our culture. Entire nation is joining hands under the leadership of the Prime Minister to realize the goal of the National Education Policy to provide equal and high quality education to all.

The CM added that, Education, health and security are key factors in the development of any nation, state or society. Providing inclusive and equitable education in place of stereotyped and outdated education is the need of hour. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given this New Education Policy with the commitment to provide such timely education to the children and future generation of the nation.

During the eight year tenure of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, many new initiatives have been taken in the country; New Education Policy is one of them. As a result of this policy, the youth of the nation will also get higher education in their regional language. Expenditure on education in the country has almost been doubled, at the same time, enough emphasis has been placed on skill development and the skills of 1.34 crore youth of the country have been enhanced.

Chief Minister also expressed confidence that this two-day conference organized in Gujarat under Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav of education ministers and academics from across the nation will strengthen the education sector more efficiently.

Education Minister of Gujarat Shri Jitu Vaghani was delighted about the fact that Union Minister of Education Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and Gujarat  Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel for giving Gujarat a chance to host this National Conference and taking a lot of pride on it he said that, The 'National Conference for School Education Ministers' program will be an important step towards taking the education sector to new high with the help of technology, effective implementation of new education policy and realizing the vision of our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi of New India.

Minister Shri Jitu Vaghani further said that, the National Education Policy is a policy that has been carefully studied by experts and with its implementation we will be able to see a new change in the society.  National Education Policy - will prove to be an important document for the future of the country and the new India. Thus implementation of such policy is the responsibility of all of us.  Education is our biggest responsibility for the society and the new education policy will be a golden step in fulfilling this responsibility with full allegiance.

In her introductory remarks to give the perspective of the conference by Secretary, School Education, Government of India Smt Anita Karwal said that in order to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, a multi-pronged and holistic approach need to be taken to ensure that children received suitable support. She informed that a comprehensive learning recovery plan (LRP) has been prepared which delineates the action to be undertaken by each stakeholder, indicative annual calendar of activities, existing interventions which can be utilized and additional support with funding as a onetime measure. The states and UTs may following interventions in their Project Approval Board proposal:

*      Learning Enhancement Programme (LEP) for all students.

*     Teacher Resource Package (TRP)

*      Oral Reading Fluency Study (ORF)

*     Information and Communication Technology facility to Block Resource Centres: ICT facilities at BRC level

*     Strengthening of Cluster Resource Centres- Mobility support to CRCs

On the side-lines of the conference, Union Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan along with Education Ministers of States/UTs, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MoS Skill  Development & Entrepreneurship and Electronics & Information Technology; Smt. Annapurna Devi, MoS for Education; Dr. Subhas Sarkar, MoS for Education and senior officials of Ministry of Education visited Vidya Samiksha Kendra (VSK), Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG), National Forensic Science University (NFSU) and International Automobile Centre of Excellence (iACE) on 1st June, 2022.

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MJPS/AK