UNESCO appreciates and extends support for implementation of NEP 2020
26 Mar 2021 13:29:50
New Delhi, Mar 26: The UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay extended full support in the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) and said that key concepts under NEP like strengthening administrative capacities, socio-emotional learning and environmental awareness are very crucial for the development of students.
The Union Minister for Education Ramesh Pokhriyal held a virtual meeting with Azoulay in New Delhi and discussed key issues of mutual importance including NEP and India's response to the COVID 19 pandemic. Pokhriyal mentioned about the initiatives undertaken to ensure continuity of education for children across the country during the ongoing pandemic.
During the meeting, Azoulay appreciated the response of India in mitigating the challenges of COVID 19 and ensuring continuity of education during the pandemic by providing education to the students through different mediums of TV, radio and online platforms to the last student of the country. Azoulay also remarked that India's response to COVID 19 was remarkable in terms of scale and diversity and also requested the Union Minister to share the experiences and best practices relating to the education sector of India with member states of the UNESCO.
The Union Education Minister said, "NEP aims to transform the educational ecosystem for over 340 million students of the country. It is based on the foundations of equality, equity, access, affordability and accountability. It seeks to fulfill our Prime Minister's vision of making India a 'global superpower of knowledge' and his 'mission' to create a 'global citizen."
The minister stressed that concerted efforts were taken to ensure no loss of the valuable academic year and talked about Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY), an initiative for differently-able children. He also spoke about MANODARPAN, the government's initiative to provide online psychosocial support to students, teachers and families for their mental health and emotional wellbeing.