Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the Governors' Conference for National Education Policy 2020. (Twitter/BJP)Governors’ Conference on National Education Policy: The new National Education Policy (NEP) doesn’t belong to one government but the country, and it should be implemented in letter and spirit irrespective of the government in power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday. Calling for a wide-ranging discussion in the country on policy implementation, Modi said the awareness amongst students, teachers and parents about the NEP should be as comprehensive as the stakeholder consultation that led to the drafting of the policy itself. The key to NEP’s success, he said, lies in stakeholder involvement.
“It is equally important that our awareness (about the NEP and its provisions) should be as deep and wide-ranging as the consultation process. It’s important to discuss all the provisions and nitty-gritty of this document. It can only be implemented once all doubts and questions in people’s minds are addressed,” he said at the inaugural session of the annual Governor’s Conference hosted by Rashtrapati Bhawan.
“When we move towards change, it’s natural for doubts and questions to arise in people’s minds. Parents may wonder how the move to dissolve subject streams would affect their child’s future. Teachers may want to know how the curriculum for such studies will be designed. Stakeholders could have questions about availability of adequate resources to meet the objectives of the NEP,” he said, requesting all Governors present at the conference to hold virtual events till September 25 in their respective states to improve the understanding of the policy among the stakeholders.
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The Prime Minister credited the wide-ranging consultation undertaken by the Education Ministry in the drafting stages for the NEP’s acceptance in the country. He further highlighted provisions of the NEP on exposure to vocations. He said that practical training or vocational training at a young age would help make India atmanirbhar (self-reliant)
“To make India atmanirbhar, it’s important for our youth to be skilled. Vocational exposure at a young age and practical learning will help them become employable and this will also increase our share in the global job market,” he said. “The new National Education Policy also talks about tackling brain drain. If the world’s best universities come to India then students will not want to study abroad. Also, our universities will become more competitive with the entry of foreign universities,” he added.