Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : The Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu on August 6, 2020, praised New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 for bringing down the load of students by reducing the syllabus.
Delivering the first Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy Memorial Lecture through video conferencing, the Vice President stressed that students must be encouraged to place equal emphasis on physical activity and sports. He also called for making Yoga an integral part of school curriculum from an early age and said students should spend equal time in playgrounds and classrooms. Calling Yoga an exercise of mind and body, the Vice President said Yoga has no religion. It is an art as well as science, he added, according to a PIB release.
Terming the recently launched New Education Policy as a visionary document, the Vice President said that it lays emphasis on holistic development of the students. He said NEP-2020 was learner-centric and aims at transforming India into a knowledge society. Expressing happiness over the importance given to mother tongue in NEP-2020, Naidu stressed the importance of preserving and promoting our rich Indian languages.“I have time and again said that there should be no imposition of any language and no opposition to any language,” he emphasized.
Opining that school education should focus on integral living where education is both theoretical and practical, the Vice President said that students must also be taught the spirit of national idealism, where the nation comes first and everything else is subordinate to national interests.
The Vice President also said that in a country of 130 crore people, the government alone cannot do everything and stressed the need to involve the private sector to supplement the efforts. He said the private sector and the voluntary organisations must be guided by missionary zeal and idealism.
Highlighting the need to raise the standards of education and increasing the professional competence of teachers, Naidu said that teachers must be friendly mentors and act as role models in their behaviour and attitude. Calling for increasing the understanding and appreciation of Indian art and cultural heritage in schools, he said that students must know the uniqueness and historical background of every Indian state.
Expressing concern over the disruption caused by Covid pandemic in normal academic schedule, the Vice President said that virtual classes were temporary arrangement and they cannot replace a teacher. No virtual mechanism can give the flavour of real time classroom learning, he added.
Observing that India was on the move, the Vice President said the setback caused by COVID-19 pandemic was temporary and exuded confidence that the momentum would be back. Quoting Prime Minister’s three word mantra- ‘Reform-Perform-Transform’, he appealed to everyone to perform one’s duty towards transforming the nation. Noting that many Indians are holding important positions all over the world, Naidu said youngsters have a world of opportunities ahead of them.
Describing Dr Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy, popularly known as Mrs YGP, as a multifaceted personality, the Vice President praised her dedication and commitment in building an institution like Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Group of Schools.