Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday, said India can emerge a big centre of global education. He pointed out that guidelines have been issued to prepare the country’s higher education as per international standards.

The PM was speaking at the inauguration of a three-day Akhil Bhartiya Shiksha Samagam on the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) in Varanasi.

He said, “The basic premise of the National Education Policy is to take education out of narrow thinking and connect it with the modern ideas of the 21st century.”

Modi asserted that there has never been a dearth of intellect and talent in the country. However, the education system created by the British was never part of the Indian ethos. He underlined the multi-dimensionality of the Indian ethos of education and asked for that aspect to mark the modern Indian education system.

“We should not only prepare degree holder youth but also provide whatever human resources are needed for the country to move forward. Our teachers and educational institutions have to lead in this endeavour,” he said.

For creating a ‘New India’, Modi stressed a new system and modern processes were critical. ”What could not even be imagined earlier is a reality now.”

The PM continued, “Not only did we recover so fast from the big epidemic of Corona, but today India is one of the fastest-growing large economies of the world. Today, we are the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world.”

He noted that in areas like space technology, where earlier only the government used to do everything, now a new world was being created for the youth through private players. Sectors that used to be closed to women were now showcasing their talent.

The PM highlighted that in the new policy, the entire focus was on making children skilled according to their talents and choices of the children. “Our youth should be skilled, confident, practical, and calculative. The education policy is preparing the ground for this,” he said.

Modi emphasised the need to work for the future with a new thought process. He said children today were displaying a very advanced degree of talent and there was a need to be prepared to help and harness their talent.

The Prime Minister lauded the efforts that went into the preparation of the NEP. He, however, emphasised that the momentum was not let down after the preparation of the policy.

There has been a constant discussion and work on the implementation of the policy. The PM said he had personally attended many seminars and events to talk about the implementation of the policy. This has resulted in a situation where the county’s youth was becoming an active partner in the growth of the country.

He also talked of a big overhaul of education infrastructure in the country. Many new colleges, universities, IITs, and IIMs were opening in the country. There has been an increase of 55 per cent in the number of medical colleges after 2014, he informed.

The Ministry of Education is organising the three-day meet that provides a platform for eminent academicians, policymakers, and academic leaders to deliberate and share their experiences and discuss the road map for effective implementation of the NEP.