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New Delhi : Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, who heads the Indian National Commission for Co-operation with UNESCO, met the Director General(DG), UNESCO, Ms Audrey Azoulay in New Delhi on February 4, 2020. They discussed issues of importance to both India and UNESCO.
Azoulay is on a three day official visit to India. Pokhriyal had previously met the DG when he led the Indian Delegation to the 40th General Conference of UNESCO at Paris in November 2019. Secretary, MHRD, Amit Khare, Secretary, I&B, Ravi Mittal, delegation from UNESCO and senior officials of the Ministry were also present on the occasion.
Pokhriyal welcomed the DG, UNESCO, and reaffirmed that India, as a founding member of UNESCO, was committed to achieving its goals through various national and international programmes. He said that with over 700 million young people in India, issues of education at all levels- primary, higher and tertiary, are of great importance to both UNESCO and India.
He and Azoulay discussed means by which education can benefit from technological advancements such as information technology and how to gear it up for the future in this digital age. Education for girls and their increasing participation in STEM, vocational education, teacher training, education for the weaker and marginalised sections of society and those differently-abled also formed a part of their discussions.
Pokhriyal informed that Government of India has recently reconstituted the Indian National Commission for cooperation with UNESCO. The Commission had a very fruitful meeting last week in which the work being done in each sector was discussed. More importantly, a lot of deliberation was focussed on how to promote cooperation and coordinated action among the five sub-commissions under the INCCU, and how to further enhance engagement with the UNESCO.
Pokhriyal highlighted that on the educational front, the Government of India is fully committed to the attainment of 2030 Sustainable Development Goals 4. India is working to further UNESCO’s objective of making quality education available to everyone. He said that various steps have been taken to improve the access, equity, and quality of education. The Minister added that a New Education Policy is on the anvil, which has been formulated after the largest ever process of consultation with stakeholders.
He said that the initiatives like NISHTHA– the world’s largest teacher training programme, LEAP and ARPIT for higher education faculty, Prime Minister’s innovative learning programme DHRUV, or the MOOCS portal SWAYAM are all significant steps in this direction, according to a PIB release
Pokhriyal highlighted that the Government is also working to internationalise education through schemes like STUDY IN INDIA that encourages enrolment of foreign students in Indian universities, SPARC that promotes joint research between Indian and foreign institutions and GIAN for international faculty teaching courses in Indian institutions.
The Minister said that the values that Mahatma Gandhi stood for, are cherished and respected the world over. He appealed that as the world observes 150 Years of Mahatma Gandhi, India and UNESCO can come together to organise celebrations in member countries.
Pokhriyal and Azoulay signed the Operational Agreement extending the presence of Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) for a further period of 5 years. MGIEP is a New Delhi based UNESCO’s Category 1 Research Institute, maintained wholly by the Ministry of Human Resource Development that focuses on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.7 towards education for building peaceful and sustainable societies across the world, according to a PIB release.
Azoulay’s visit re-emphasises India’s close ties with UNESCO since its inception in 1946 and the shared ethos of promotion of peace and intercultural dialogue. The Director General will also call upon PM Narendra Modi during her visit.She began her visit from Rajghat by paying her respects to Mahatma Gandhi. In October 2018, the Executive Board of UNESCO had passed a resolution titled ‘Remembering the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi’ to commemorate his 150th birth anniversary.