Kolkata, Mar 28 (IANS): President Droupadi Murmu said on Tuesday that the National Education Policy (NEP) of the Union government reflects the academic thoughts of Rabindranath Tagore.

"Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore's academic thoughts showed the way of introducing modern thoughts in the higher education system of the country. The reflections of the academic thoughts of that great son of the soil are there in the National Education Policy 2022," Murmu said while addressing the annual convocation ceremony of Visva Bharati University, which was founded by Tagore, at Santiniketan in Birbhum district.

The President also expressed her satisfaction over the balanced proportion of male and female students at Visva Bharati University.

"I am really happy over this balanced ratio of male and female students. Almost 50 per cent of the population in India are women. There is an urgent requirement for women's empowerment through improvement in education standards for women in order to achieve the goal of self-reliant India. Hence, additional emphasis should be given to women's education throughout the country," the President said.

To mark the occasion, the university authority handed over to a portrait of Tagore to Murmu.

After reaching Santiniketan on Tuesday afternoon, the President first paid a visit to the museum at Rabindra Bhavan located within the university campus, where she paid floral tributes to the statue of Tagore. Thereafter, she paid a visit to the Kala Bhavan within the campus and appreciated the sculptures displayed there.

West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, who is the rector of the university by virtue of his chair, was also present on the occasion.