Inculcate social responsibility amongst youth to create Atma Nirbhar Bharat

The fundamental principles of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 aim at producing engaged, productive, contributing citizens for building an equitable, inclusive, and plural society & enable holistic development of the students with a focus to make them self-reliant individuals. It also aims to create a global knowledge superpower by making the school and college education more holistic. To deliberate on making this vision of NEP a reality, a two-day Virtual Conference on Strategies for Implementation of National Education Policy 2020 for Schools and Student Progression was inaugurated at Amity University Uttar Pradesh.  
  
Chief Guest, Dr. Kiran Bedi, Lt. Governor of Puducherry said that the goal of education is to create good human beings who are willing to reach out and help and called upon students to become good human beings. She emphasized on the important role of teachers in shaping out the citizens of the country and transforming students. Dr. Bedi stated that teachers, administrators must lead by example and how social responsibility as a spirit needs to be inculcated for creating Atma Nirbhar Bharat. She stressed on making instant beginning without waiting for NEP implementation and asked universities to partner with police to have a system of police cadets in place to inculcate a sense of responsibility in the youth and make the police humane in return with the community watching them. She suggested involving all NSS candidates in improving environment with immediate effect and the youth should take part in local resident issues including security, elderly care, resident welfare issues etc. She talked of the need for linking vocational skills with neighbouring industries and sending students to spend a day in the week to experience practical learning. Dr. Bedi further called upon senior students do peer learning and get prepared for their competitive exams in return. She also pointed at having public servants attached with NGO’s across fields & serve them mandatorily to sensitize them and build their soft skills. She suggested having IT colleges to link with government departments, NGO’s to encourage exchange & development of skills. She stressed on the need to encourage voluntary contribution in colleges based on Gandhian principles and further learn life skills as envisaged by NEP. She also talked of encouraging adoption of rural schools for their development by offering them teaching and other facilities.   
  
Keynote Speaker, Shri Anurag Tripathi, IRPS Officer, Secretary of Central Board of Secondary Education, Delhi shared that education is a tool that can solve all problems of a Nation & help it to grow. He averred that NEP 2020 is an amalgamation of various policy documents prepared in the past starting from 1936 pointing towards a common goal of holistic development of an individual who is skilled & competent. He added that the primary aim of the policy is to develop skills & competency in students and create good future citizens. Shri Tripathi stressed on ensuring pedagogical changes through experiential learning to put competency-based education and skill development into practice, moving away from rote learning. He suggested for converting labs into classrooms, ensure innovation to be part of teaching & learning and warrant curriculum reforms as envisaged by NEP 2020. He stressed on integration of subjects with art, life and other subjects and put it into practice. He also stated on the need for capacity building of principals & teachers to ensure pedagogical reforms and ensure recruitment is done of qualified individuals.   
 
Dr. Atul Chauhan, Chancellor, Amity University shared that it’s the responsibility of the educators to get the NEP 2020 implemented in its true spirit. He pledged his support in following the direction laid by the chief guest and create citizens of tomorrow. Dr. Chauhan lauded the efforts of Principals and teachers in ensuring academic continuity since the lockdown and ensuring mental well-being of students by keeping them actively engaged.   
  
Prof. Dr. Balvinder Shukla, Vice Chancellor, Amity University, Uttar Pradesh averred that the vision of National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) is to achieve high-quality education to all, built around the foundational pillars of Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability. Dr. Shukla shared that the goal of the conference was to explore and develop a Holistic Action Plan for the Implementation of the NEP 2020 in Schools and Student Progression. Further the conference also aims to come out with a ‘white paper’ based on the key learnings and deliberations of 50+ Principals, Policy makers, Educationalists and Senior Academicians to the Ministry of Education, Government of India through nine sessions spread across two days.    
 
The sessions of the two day conference will focus upon Role of Schools, Parents and Society for Development of Foundation years; Restructuring School Curriculum and Pedagogy for Holistic Development of Learners; Achieving Equitable and Inclusive Education: Challenges and Opportunities; Realigning the Regulation and Accreditation for Quality in School Education: Issues and Way Forward; Approaches towards Holistic and Multi-Disciplinary Education for Diverse Career Opportunities; Challenges and Strategies for Professional Development of Teachers for Effective Teaching-Learning in Schools; Innovative Practices of Integrating ICT in Effective Teaching-Learning and Assessment in Schools; Best Practices for Educational and Vocational Guidance for Career Progression and Effective Leadership and Efficient Governance in School Education. Hundreds of principals, teachers, educators and parents from across the country joined the conference.