Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said he sees an imminent need to reimagine, reinvent and re-engineer the entire education system to effectively meet the many formidable challenges of the 21st century. He said the New Education Policy-2020 would facilitate India to fully realise the demographic dividend and make the country a knowledge and innovation hub in the 21st century. LIVE updates | PM Modi's adress on NEP 2020 Addressing the 21st foundation day celebrations of Vivekananda Institute of Human Excellence via video, he underscored that the cultivation of excellence takes discipline, single-minded focus, and determined effort. He said Swami Vivekananda told the world about the importance of the ancient Indian philosophy of Vedanta and the spirit of universality, tolerance, and acceptance that underpins ancient Indian thought. Observing that Swamiji's teachings remain eternal edicts to the whole world to this day, he urged youngsters to study the life and words of Vivekananda and follow his message with heart and soul. Read | Schools, Colleges reopening: 5 things to know before going to campus He also opined that we need many more educational institutions that will take the universal teachings of giants like Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Pramahamsa and their interpretations closer to the common man. The vice president said that he saw an imminent need to reimagine, reinvent and re-engineer the entire education system, if we are to effectively meet the many formidable challenges of the 21st century, an official statement said. Reminding of the demographic dividend that lay before India, he asserted that the nation must not fail to leverage this great competitive advantage. Read | New curriculum for teachers’ education by 2021: President He emphasised that education is meant not only to make a living and live a comfortable life. What is more important is education must enable an individual to become a well-rounded person with grit, moral courage, equanimity, empathy and spiritual strength. Education is meant to enlighten and empower an individual, he said. The vice president highlighted the need to foster innovation, encourage entrepreneurial ability and a deepen awareness of our country's rich heritage. He said that education must result in the creation of an integrated person, a person who is empathetic, active, competent, humble and hardworking, a person who is open to new ideas, tolerant to different viewpoints and committed to world peace and collaborative, collective human progress. Read | Spread awareness about National Education Policy among stakeholders: PM Modi tells Governors He opined that education must help the youth develop critical thinking faculties, clearly identify the problems that plague humanity and come up with definitive solutions. Naidu said that the new education policy reflects the ideals of Vivekananda. He expressed confidence that the policy would facilitate India to fully realise the demographic dividend and make the country a knowledge and innovation hub in the 21st century.
