BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister for Education and Skill Development Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday said almost all states are unanimous on the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 barring a few which have their own political considerations.
Inaugurating the 10th edition of Odisha Literary Festival (OLF) organised by The New Indian Express here, Pradhan said the NEP aims to transform the country’s education system into a world-class one and make India a global knowledge superpower. The new policy also emphasises quality education for all, regardless of their socio-economic background and its basic objective is to create employability, he said.
Stating that India has made rapid strides in economic growth and is now the fifth-largest economy in the world, Pradhan said, all the nations of the world look forward to India which is ready to embrace the knowledge economy.
“I have met either chief ministers or education ministers of states having some reservation on the new policy and they said they have no problems with it. But a few states have taken a different public position purely for political reasons,” Pradhan told a packed audience.
Responding to a query from Editorial Director of TNIE Prabhu Chawla that NEP 2020 does not appear as a united factor as it enforces students to learn three languages, the union minister said nobody has any objection to learning more languages.
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“Since education is in the concurrent list, the states are free to choose their own model. But I can say there is unanimity across the country to the new policy implementation of which got delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” he added. Where is the problem in learning three languages when people take credit for learning multiple languages including foreign languages, the union minister wondered.
“The opposition is not to language but there are reasons which have nothing to do with the new NEP. I have no problem with other languages. My basic training is in my mother tongue. I was not a very good student. Even now, I think in Odia and translate it to Hindi and English wherever required of me to address people,” he said.
Acknowledging that advanced economies such as Germany, France Japan, Korea, and China have successfully shifted to a knowledge-based economy with their national languages, Pradhan said India is now building a road to embark upon knowledge-based growth shedding its colonial past.
English is basically a language for business communication for international trade. Only six to seven per cent of the country’s population is English literate. “A perception has been created that English language skills provide better employment opportunity which is not true,” he said.
Asserting that the ancient Kalinga was rich in every aspects, be it language, literature, culture, trade, science and mathematics, the union minister said many states may have surpassed Odisha economically but India’s growth story cannot be imagined without it.
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Pradhan said people outside Odisha have little knowledge about the past glory of the state as many historical events have not been properly chronicled. The state has not got its due in the pages of history and the time has come to tell the world about its past glory. The new education policy will provide that opportunity, he added.
CEO of TNIE Lakshmi Menon and festival coordinator Kaveree Bamzai were present. Resident Editor of TNIE, Bhubaneswar Siba Mohanty who delivered the welcome address said the OLF began as a humble attempt to contribute to the richness of Odisha’s literature and has received wide adulation and participation from diverse walks of life.