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 for 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 on providing quality education to all, regardless of their socio-economic background and its basic objective is to create employability.Stating that India has made rapid strides in economic growth and is now the fifth largest economy in the world, he 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. “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.
Where is the problem in learning three languages when people take credit for learning multiple languages including foreign languages, Union minister wondered. “The opposition is not to language but other reasons which have nothing to do with the new NEP,” he said. Acknowledging that advanced economies such as Germany, France Japan, Korea, and China have successfully shifted to 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. The two-day OLF kickstarted with Pradhan lighting the lamp in presence of Chawla, CEO of TNIE Lakshmi Menon and Resident Editor of Odisha Siba Mohanty. Kaveree Bamzai is the festival director.