New Delhi: The Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu has said that education is the key lever for transforming India. He addressed the sixth edition of ThinkEdu Conclave organized by The New Indian Express (TNIE) in Chennai today where he stressed on the need to reshape the education system.
Education is a powerful tool that empowers individuals and transforms communities. It can break the vicious cycles of poverty. It can enable a country like India with a large youth population, to grow. But only if it can capitalize on its demographic advantage, he said.
The Vice President said that true education gives us the humility that makes us realize as to how much more there is to learn. This humility makes us lifelong learners and we grow as individuals.
The Vice President said that without a good human resource development strategy, country cannot achieve sustainable development. Without equipping our children, youth and adults with the required knowledge, skills and attitudes, we cannot be a developed nation, he said.
The Vice President said that the humanistic, inclusive, harmonious vision given to us by ancestors must be integrated into our education system. We must now get down to making our schools, colleges and universities great places of learning. The new resurgent India can be built on excellence and equity in education, he further said.
The Vice President called on people involved in education sector to focus on improving access to pre-primary education and elementary education of good quality. We cannot afford to ignore this vital dimension any longer. We cannot build a new India on a weak foundation. We cannot tolerate the high level of illiteracy, he said.
The Vice President said India requires a curriculum that makes learners knowledgeable, skillful and responsible. We should make put the children at the centre of schooling. We should make the system respond to the learning needs of youth and adults. The higher education system must focus on research and extending the frontiers of knowledge, he said.
The Vice President said that Education system must have essential guiding principles to help students become good human beings. Education is for employment. Education is for enlightenment. Education is for empowerment. Education is for evolution into a competent and caring individual. Education is for transformation of societal norms, he said.
