Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday referred to India’s incredible demographic dividend, and stressed the need for educating the burgeoning youth population and equipping them with employable skills to harness the immense youth power to make India a global leader.
Addressing the 55th annual prize distribution ceremony of Shyam Lal College here, he called for a re-look into
the way students are trained in colleges and schools, and favoured moving away from textbook knowledge, rigid ideas and exam marks to focus on well-informed, open debates.
The Vice-President asked centres of higher education to replace long hours of lecturing with newer teaching
methods using case studies, problem solving and role playing, to improve employability.
While admitting acquisition of employable skills and knowledge were tools to succeed in modern day careers, he asked institutions of higher education to develop an industry focus and encourage students to take up live
projects, internships and enable them to constantly interact with industry and corporate bodies.
However, noting the poor global ranking of Indian institutions, he said ‘our quest for excellence in education would remain unfulfilled if we fail to achieve international standards in higher education.’
Urging higher educational institutions such as Shyam Lal College to strive for excellence, Mr Naidu opined that
excellence was always the result of unwavering dedication, intelligent planning, and relentless determination
and focused effort, an official release here said.
Opining that neglecting education would adversely impact growth of the nation as a whole, the Vice President said there was an urgent and imminent need to re-think and re-engineer the entire education system.
Mr Naidu stressed upon the need to fundamentally re-cast the education system, institutions, pedagogy,
teaching and learning methods and said a beginning must be made from primary education. He opined that
ensuring access, diversity, equity and quality in primary education was an essential component in all such efforts.
He also suggested increasing investment in education from the current 3 per cent of GDP to at least 6 per cent
by 2022, as recommended by NITI Aayog. He wanted institutions especially schools in rural areas, to ensure
not only 100 per cent enrolment but also make sure that all children learn at a high level of proficiency and make sure that no child was left behind.
In order to improve the state of primary education, the Vice President suggested a renewed focus on childhood nutrition. He said we must not let education be held hostage in the vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition. He also wanted special attention towards children belonging to vulnerable sections such as the differently abled.
The Vice President distributed prizes to meritorious students and lauded the efforts of the institution in providing education to poor and marginalised sections of society at the heart of the national capital.
Prof Yogesh Tyagi, the Vice Chancellor, University of Delhi, Ms Savita Gupta, Chairperson Governing Body, Prof. Rabi Narayan Kar, Principal, Shyam Lal College, faculty and students of Shyam Lal College were present at the venue, the release said
(UNI)
