From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Nov 13: Effective implementation of National Education Policy (NEP-2020) will help in increasing employability levels of candidates from the present around 20%, Dr C N Ashwatha Narayana, Higher Education Minister, said on Saturday.
Inaugurating the State’s first NEP conclave on “Strategising the Future of Higher Education” jointly organized by the State Government and International Skill Development Corporation (ISDC), he said the future of the country depends on making our students skill ready along with imparting knowledge to them.
India is a vast country with a mammoth population of over 135 crore and has a majority of youth who have their own aspirations and dreams. Their dreams can be realized only by acquiring proper knowledge and skillsets, he explained.
“It is a false notion to say that NEP implementation will lead to commercialization of education. Students from the disadvantaged sections of the society who are mainly in government institutions will be the first beneficiaries of this policy and it makes way for creating equity in the society,” Dr Narayana said.
NEP removes the barriers which exist in the current education system and brings both curricular and extracurricular into the single fold and thus is very much inclusive.
Methodic implementation of NEP will make India a leading education destination in the world in the next 20 years, he said.
The minister said NEP believes in transferring freedom and autonomy to the institutions, he added, this facilitates providing quality education by paving way for collaborations with world-class institutions.
Speaking at the conclave, Tom M Joseph, Executive Director, Strategy and Development, ISDC, UK, said, “India is a young nation with a rich demographic dividend. In the past two decades, the country has catapulted to being one of the thriving knowledge economies, owing to its IT and consumer-led growth.’’
"The National Education Policy 2020 can lead an orbital shift with its focus on transforming the education sector through investments into various areas of skill development including project-based learning, experiential learning, service-learning, and vocational training,’’ he said.
Ms Teresa Jacobs, ED- Learning, ISDC, Prof Gopalakrishna Joshi, ED, State Higher Education Council, eminent dignitaries from academia including Vice-Chancellors, Registrars and Directors of various universities and educationists attended.
NEP will empower faculty, students
Earlier, participating in the Aspiring to create a well-rounded personality among students National Education Policy (NEP-2020) brings everything- cultural, curricular, extracurricular, skill, vocational- into a single fold, Dr Narayana said.
Participating in the Kannada Rajyotsava celebrations and launching extracurricular activities for the year 2021-22 at Government First-Grade College in Malleswaram, he said NEP will empower students and faculty by facilitating blended mode of the teaching-learning process.
“The government is focusing on introducing digital technology to education and is a front runner in making it a reality in the entire country. Digitalization of the teaching-learning process will enable to better the quality of education,” he said.
Government institutions are being upgraded with modern facilities. The whole of the nation is looking up to Bengaluru and the city ranks 23rd with regard to technology and innovations which no other city of the country enjoys, he explained.
Kannadigas should not limit themselves to Karnataka alone, he said and added: The student community should explore opportunities all over the world and bring pride to the state as well as to the nation.
Anchor Aparna, Dr D S Pratibha, Principal, Ratnakara Shetty, Principal of Government Pre-University College, S Kousalya, Convenor, Cultural Committee of the College and others were present.