NEW DELHI: Playful education, which is now accessible to the preschoolers in private schools in cities, will now also reach villages, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.
He was addressing a conclave on “School Education in the 21st Century” under the NEP 2020 on Friday through a video conference.
The PM stressed that the focus on basic education is the most important aspect of this policy. While any other aspect of our lives has remained the same in the last three decades, our education system is still running as per the old pattern, the PM added.
The new NEP is a means to fulfilling new aspirations, new opportunities for a new India, he said.
He urged the teachers to work together for an effective implementation of the policy saying that while it is legitimate that many questions arise after the announcement of the policy, it is necessary to discuss such issues in the conclave to move forward.
The PM also said that over 1.5 million suggestions have been received within a week from teachers across the country on implementing the NEP.
Energetic youths are the engines of development of a country but their development should begin from their childhood, said Modi, adding that the education of children in the right environment determines to a large extent what a person would become and what shape their personality would take. The NEP 2020 lays a lot of emphasis on this, he said.
The PM said that it is in preschool where children begin to understand their senses and skills better. For this, there is a need for schools and teachers to provide an environment of fun, playful, activity-based, and discovery-based learning to children.
He said that as the child progresses, it is very necessary to develop a greater learning spirit, logical and mathematical thinking, and scientific temperament.
Modi also said that it must be ensured that every child who crosses the third grade can easily read 30 to 35 words in a minute. According to the PM, it will help a child in understanding the content of other subjects with ease and it could happen only when the studies are connected to the real world, to our lives and to the surrounding environment.