The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu today praised New Education Policy for bringing down the load of students by reducing the syllabus.
Delivering the first Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy Memorial Lecture through video conferencing, the Vice President stressed that students must be encouraged to place equal emphasis on physical activity and sports. He also called for making Yoga an integral part of school curriculum from an early age and said students should spend equal time in playgrounds and classrooms.
Calling Yoga an exercise of mind and body, the Vice President said Yoga has no religion. It is an art as well as science, he added.
Terming the recently launched New Education Policy as a visionary document, the Vice President said that it laid emphasis on holistic development of the students. He said NEP-2020 was learner-centric and aims at transforming India into a knowledge society. It rightfully balances the rootedness and pride in India as well as acceptance of the best ideas and practices in the world of learning from across the globe, he added.
Expressing happiness over the importance given to mother tongue in NEP-2020, Shri Naidu stressed the importance of preserving and promoting our rich Indian languages.“I have time and again said that there should be no imposition of any language and no opposition to any language”, he emphasized.
Opining that school education should focus on integral living where education is both theoretical and practical, the Vice President said that students must also be taught the spirit of national idealism, where the nation comes first and everything else is subordinate to national interests.
The Vice President also said that in a country of 130 crore people, government alone cannot do everything and stressed the need to involve the private sector to supplement the efforts. He said the private sector and the voluntary organizations must be guided by missionary zeal and idealism.
Highlighting the need to raise the standards of education and increasing the professional competence of teachers, Shri Naidu said that teachers must be friendly mentors and act as role models in their behaviour and attitude.
Calling for increasing the understanding and appreciation of Indian art and cultural heritage in schools, he said that students must know the uniqueness and historical background of every Indian state as also how Bharat Mata is a supreme embodiment of nationalistic imagery.
Citing a poem of the eminent poet, Subramania Bharati, Shri Naidu underscored the importance of unity in diversity which has been the foundational spirit of our great country, Bharat.
Expressing concern over the disruption caused by Covid pandemic in normal academic schedule, the Vice President said that virtual classes were temporary arrangement and they cannot replace a teacher. No virtual mechanism can give the flavour of real time classroom learning, he added.
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Observing that India was on the move, the Vice President said the setback caused by COVID-19 pandemic was temporary and exuded confidence that the momentum would be back. Quoting Prime Minister’s three word mantra- ‘Reform-Perform-Transform’, he appealed to everyone to perform one’s duty towards transforming the nation.
Noting that many Indians are holding important positions all over the world, Shri Naidu said youngsters have a world of opportunities ahead of them. He stressed the need to impart right kind of skills from an early age in this regard.
Talking about the recently held Bhoomi Pujan for the rebuilding of Lord Rama’s temple in Ayodhya, Shri Naidu said Ramyana teaches us a way life.
We need Ramyana not to just worship Rama but to worship the qualities he embodied and imbibe them in our life, VP said.
Describing Dr Mrs Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy, popularly known as Mrs YGP, as a multifaceted personality, the Vice President praised her dedication and commitment in building an institution like Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Group of Schools.
“It is in the work of people like Mrs. Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy lies the future of India which once was the Vishwa Guru and is striving to regain its lost glory in many spheres, including education”, he said.
The Vice President expressed happiness that the Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Group of Schools was founded to revive and promote the spirit of Indian-ness and emphasised that students must be made aware of their civilizational inheritance and they must learn to combine the best of Indian and global practices.
Smt. Sheela Rajendra, dean and Director, Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Group of Schools, Shri P B Balaji, Parents-Teacher Association President, and others were present on the occasion.
Courtesy: indiaeducationdiary
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