National Education Policy 2020 is a major step towards making India a knowledge economy: Narendra Modi

The new National Education Policy (NEP) focuses on passion, practicality and performance and is a major step towards moving away from a “one size fits all” approach, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday.

Speaking at the Governors’ Conference on Education, Modi said NEP had been accepted nationwide as it was brought out after elaborate discussions and consultations with people across the country.

“The interference of the government in education policy should be kept at a minimum. The more teachers, parents and students are involved in it, the more relevant it becomes,” the Prime Minister said.

This is not a government’s NEP but the people’s—the country’s education police—he added.

Referring to the importance of vocational education in the new policy, the Prime Minister said for an Atmanirbhar Bharat, skill development is key.

“The NEP focuses more on learning than study. It focuses more on practically, passion and performance. In one way, this is a major step towards getting rid of the one size fits all approach to our education system,” he said.

For a very long time, our children have been bogged down by social pressure and the weight of school bags. These issues have been dealt with in the NEP, the Prime Minister said.

He said that effort is being made to regulate higher education regulation further. That is the idea behind graded autonomy—in that colleges which perform better are rewarded.

“Good ideas, no matter where they emerge from, should be adopted. NEP is a major step towards making India a knowledge economy. To tackle brain drain, we have allowed the best global varsities to come to India. We have to promote technological solutions in our colleges and universities,” he said.

When there are such comprehensive changes, it is natural there will be doubts as well. He said there could be questions about implementation and also whether there are enough resources to carry out these changes.

He said efforts and dialogue ere on to address all these questions including by the Union education ministry.

“This policy is not of the government alone. This is the country’s policy. Like foreign policy and defence policy are for the country. Similarly education policy is for the country and not about who is in the seat of power,” the Prime Minister said.

He suggested that there should be appropriate flexibility in the implementation of the policy.

“Before September 25, there should be several virtual conferences so that our understanding of NEP keeps improving,” he said.