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New Delhi : The Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu on July 21, 2021, addressed the World Universities Summit organised by O P Jindal Global University as a Chief Guest. Union Education and Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also addressed the summit. The theme of the summit was “Universities of the Future: Building Institutional Resilience, Social Responsibility and Community Impact”.
Nnaidu asked universities to become thought leaders in finding solutions to global challenges such as climate change, poverty, and pollution. He also wanted the universities to discuss various socio-economic and political issues facing the world and come up with ideas that can be implemented by the governments as per their needs and suitability, according to a PIB release.
Referring to the benefits of learning in the mother tongue, Naidu said it enhances one’s grasping and comprehension levels. “To understand a subject in another language, one has to first learn and master that language, which needs a lot of effort. However, this is not the case while learning in one’s mother tongue,” he said.
Highlighting the country’s rich linguistic and cultural heritage, the Vice President said that India is home to hundreds of languages and thousands of dialects. He said, “Our linguistic diversity is one of the cornerstones of our rich cultural heritage.” Emphasising on the significance of mother language, Naidu said, “Our mother language or our native language is very special to us, as we share an umbilical cord relationship with it.”
Addressing the participants, Union Education and Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan emphasised on the Government’s commitment to transform India’s education sector bringing it at par with global standards, encouraging research and innovation, and developing well-rounded responsible citizens, who are also global citizens- Vishwa Manav.
Pradhan said that the New National Education Policy -2020 has heralded a new imagination for the Indian higher education system. It outlines the vision of PMNarendra Modi to make an Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Quality, equity, accessibility, and affordability are the four pillars of the new education policy on which a new India will emerge, he added.
The Education Minister stated that with the vision of Study In India—Stay In India’, India will move towards becoming a global destination in education. He highlighted the efforts made by the Government to make education holistic, innovative, linguistically diverse, and multi-disciplinary. No student should suffer due to language limitations or regional linguistic constraints, he added.
He said that the multidisciplinary education and research university (MERU) will open up new opportunities for India’s youth. MERU will promote inter-disciplinary research and make India a global hub of Research and Development, he said.
Pradhan said that Covid-19 pandemic necessitated the adoption of online learning and use of digital technologies to ensure that learning continues. This mode is going to stay giving way to hybrid methods of learning and knowledge dissemination. Our future planning, therefore, needs to fill a digital divide, he said.
Professor (Dr.) D P Singh, Chairman, University Grants Commission, Naveen Jindal, Chancellor, O P Jindal Global University, Professor (Dr.) C Raj Kumar, Founding Vice-Chancellor; Professor Dabiru Sridhar Patnaik, Registrar and other distinguished university leaders from India and overseas, faculty also attended the event.