British education system meant to create ‘servant class’: PM Modi

NEW DELHI: Stating that the colonial education system inherited by India was to create a “servant class” for the British rulers and a lot of it remains unchanged, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the National Education Policy 2020 opens the doors for youth to find solutions to the problems of the world through a modern education system with Indian ethos.
Inaugurating the three-day Akhil Bhartiya Shiksha Samagam on implementation of the National Education Policy at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi on Thursday Modi said, “The foundation of the NEP 2020 is to take education out of narrow thinking and connect it with the modern ideas of the 21st century. There has been no dearth of talent in our country. But unfortunately we inherited a system where the meaning of education was to get a job. The British designed the education system to fulfil their needs. Things did change post-independence, but a lot left to be done. The education system created by the Britishers was never part of the Indian ethos.”
Speaking on creating a new modern system via the NEP, the PM said: "We should not just produce degree-holding youth but make our education system such that we create human resources that are needed for the country to take it forward." the PM said.

"We have to delve into the details of the challenges and problems and find solutions. The NEP is opening doors for education in Indian languages. I have confidence that India could emerge as a world education destination,” the PM said.
The PM said that "innovative thoughts and new ideas" should be discussed at the summit and advised universities to think on how they partner with the government in different areas. “You have to decide your expertise. The area in which you are, you should do a survey and conduct study and give advice to the government. You should identify problems, resources and solutions to them within a 50-100 km radius of universities.”
Modi urged the heads of institutions and others to think in terms of keeping pace with modernity in education along with taking care of the present needs. He gave the example of how children today cite Google to counter others.
The PM said that the responsibility to create institutions of repute lies on the heads present in the summit so that the when talented students step onto their campuses they don’t feel disappointed.
“While inaugurating a centralised kitchen for midday meal earlier today I had the opportunity to interact with children in the age group of 10-11 years. Within those 10-15 minutes they have inspired me with their talent, confidence and diversity. They are children from one of our government schools. What I want to say is that when such a talented young generation will reach your institutions, you won’t be there, but by then you should have established the institution to that standard so they don’t miss out on anything. This big responsibility is on you. And I believe the brainstorming in the next three days on implementation of the NEP will give an effective direction towards that,” said Modi.
Referring to the importance of the NEP, Modi said: “After the policy, the responsibility on the youth has increased even more. Along with this, our responsibility has also increased that we should continuously encourage the dreams and flights of the youth, understand their mind, understand their aspirations. The era that imposed anything without understanding has gone. We have a blueprint of education, institutions, and human resources keeping this in mind. The children should be made skilled as per their talent. Education policy is preparing the ground for this."
The meeting brings together over 300 educationists, including vice-chancellors and directors from public and private universities to discuss the implementation of NEP 2020. Uttar Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel, chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan also participated in the summit.
Modi also spoke about a big overhaul of education infrastructure in the country. Many new colleges, universities, IITs and IIM are opening in the country. There has been an increase of 55% in the number of medical colleges after 2014, he said. The common entrance test for universities will bring ease and equality to university admissions.
“The National Education Policy is now opening the way for studies in the mother tongue. In this sequence, ancient Indian languages like Sanskrit are also being carried forward,” he said.
Expressing confidence that India can emerge as a big centre of global education, Modi said: “Guidelines have been issued to prepare Indian higher education as per international standards. Special offices have been established in 180 universities for international affairs of the institutions,” and asked experts to be aware of the international practices in the field.