Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday called upon States to work together for building a collaborative education system.
He was addressing the inaugural session of a review meeting of the Department of School Education and Literacy with States and UTs. Senior officials from the Centres and States and representatives of the NCERT, SCERTs, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Navodaya Vidyalaya and CBSE were present.
Mr Pradhan shared his thoughts on the roadmap for the next five years for the holistic development of school education across India. He said that education is a key pillar of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’. In almost four years of the National Education Policy (NEP), the education ecosystem in the country has made tremendous progress and implementation of NEP is key to transforming Bharat into a knowledge superpower and enabling equitable and inclusive access to quality education, he added.
Speaking about education in Indian languages, he said the NEP emphasises the importance of education in mother tongue and all Indian languages. He called for carrying forward the basic spirit of NEP i.e. ensuring Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability in education.
”Ensuring an education system which is both rooted and futuristic is our collective responsibility,” he said. He also stressed the importance of building technology readiness in schools with a holistic approach and ensuring critical thinking among students.
He urged both the Centre and the States to work as a team to strengthen the education ecosystem as well as to replicate and amplify best-practices.
Mr Pradhan also spoke about the emotional connect one shares with their school teachers and the importance of teachers’ capacity building in making the educational ecosystem more vibrant. Speaking about competency-based education, he said, ”we must also augment our skilling capacities to increase employability.”