HYDERABAD: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday underscored the importance of the National Education Policy (NEP) in reforming the education sector in India.
Delivering the keynote address at the Indian School of Business, he stressed that making education multi-linguistic and multi-disciplinary was the need of the hour as the country was emerging as the leader of the global south.
He also said that it was crucial to break dependency on the English language while seeking education and to develop an integrated approach for Indian languages, while devising AI technology in actualising the multilingual approach at all levels of education.
Citing examples of countries like Japan, Germany and China, Pradhan said that prioritising Indian languages was necessary to bridge the gap between education and the common people.
He said that education was the mothership of human civilization and the NEP was the mothership of the present day. It was not a policy, but the collective wisdom of the last eight decades post-independence, the Union minister added.
The minister said that as the country set its sights on the year 2047, the Amrit Kaal of India, it was essential to make efforts to make India the skill hub by focusing on training the workforce and future generation of the country.
Pradhan said that the student size of 300 million in India was the challenge and the strength, at the same time and that NEP would become the foundation of the new vision of India.
Education based on the five pillars of quality, equity, accessibility, affordability and sustainability was crucial in the reformation of the sector, he said and stressed the importance of research to make the society research-centric.
The union minister stressed the significance of ISB strategy management of the new aspirations of the youth and its role in transitioning from education to solving real-world business challenges.
Later, B V R Subrahmanyam, CEO, NITI Aayog, shared his insights on India@2047. He also underlined the need to focus on developing a prosperous and inclusive India with research and development as the crucial aspect.
Professor Madan Pillutla, Dean, ISB and members from various fields of academia, industry, and government were present.