NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 gives due respect and credit to every language in the country and those who try to politicise languages for their selfish interests will have to shut their shops.
The PM said the world is looking at India as a nursery of new possibilities and several countries are approaching the government for setting up IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) campuses there.
Delivering the inaugural address at the ‘Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagam’ on the third anniversary of the launch of the NEP 2020, the Prime Minister said the NEP aims at making “India a hub of research and innovation.”
Highlighting India’s top institutes opening their offshore campuses, Modi said, “The world is looking at India as a nursery of new possibilities. Many countries are approaching us to open IIT campuses there. Two IIT campuses — one in Tanzania and one in Abu Dhabi — are already about to start operations... Various global universities are also reaching out to us, expressing their interest in setting up campuses in India.”
The PM also released the first installment of funds under the PM SHRI Scheme, under which existing schools would be selected, strengthened and upgraded.As many as 6,207 schools received the first installment with a total amounting to Rs 630 crore. The aim is to develop more than 14,500 PM Shri schools across India.He also released education and skill curriculum books translated into 12 Indian languages.
Giving special thrust to the promotion of the mother tongue, Modi said, “Education in the mother tongue is initiating a new form of justice for the students in India. It is also a very significant step towards social justice.”He said subjects ranging from social science to engineering will now be taught in Indian languages.
“When students are confident in a language, their skills and talent will emerge without any restriction,” he said, adding that “judging youngsters on the basis of their language rather than their talent is the biggest injustice.”He lamented that even though India has a number of established languages, they were presented as a sign of backwardness, and those who could not speak English were neglected and their talents were not recognised.As a result, Modi said, the children of the rural areas remained most affected.
Citing examples of several developed countries, he said they have the edge owing to their local languages. Giving the example of Europe, he said most countries make use of their own native languages. “Even at the United Nations, I speak in Indian language,” the Prime Minister said.
He pointed out that those who try to politicise language for their own selfish interests will now have to shut their shops. “National Educational Policy will give due respect and credit to every language in the country,” Modi said.He asked schools to make students aware of subjects such as disaster management, climate change and clean energy.