Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed a conclave on school education in the 21st century, which was organised under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 by the ministry of education as a part of the ‘Shiksha Parv’.
He addressed the conclave on its second and final day, through video conferencing.
Here are some quotes from the Prime Minister’s speech:
NEP a medium to fulfil aspirations of new India
Addressing the event, the Prime Minister called NEP 2020 a medium to fulfil new hopes and necessities of a new India. He added that the policy was devised after four to five years of hard work by people from every region, genre and language. He added that the work on it was still in progress.
Engage, explore, experience, express and excel
PM Modi stressed on the importance of promoting easy and new ways of learning, which he called methods of ‘New Age Learning’. These, he said, were engage, explore, experience, express and excel.
Five Cs of the 21st century
Talking about the ‘skills of the 21st century,’ Modi said that students have to move forward with these skills. These, he said, are critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, curiosity and communication.
Marksheet has become ‘mental pressure sheet’
Speaking about the pressure to score well in exams, PM Modi said parents always ask their children about their marks but never about what they have learned. He questioned how a marksheet can be a parameter of children’s mental development.
Mathematical thinking and scientific temperament
He spoke about the need to develop mathematical thinking and scientific temperament in children. “Mathematical thinking does not only mean that children solve mathematical questions, but this is also a way of thinking,” he said.
Language is a medium of education, not education itself
On the issue of medium of instruction, PM Modi said language is a medium of instruction and not the whole education itself. He said any language in which a child can learn, should be the medium of instruction.