Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal during meeting with UNESCO DG on Thursday. (Photo- Ramesh Pokhriyal Twitter Handle)
New Delhi: Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ held a virtual meeting with Director General UNESCO, Ms Audrey Azoulay in New Delhi on Thursday.
They discussed key issues of mutual importance including National Education Policy, India’s response to COVID Pandemic especially in the education sector, among others concerning India UNESCO cooperation, said a government press release.
Amit Khare, Secretary, Higher Education, delegation from UNESCO and senior officials of the Ministry were also present in the meeting.
Pokhriyal said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ministry of Education has ensured that education reaches even the last child in the remotest part of the country.
In this context he mentioned about initiatives undertaken to ensure continuity of education for children across the country.
“Prime Minister E –Vidya scheme, DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing) platform was started to continue education for students (with internet access). While One Class – One Channel programme ‘SWAYAM PRABHA’ was initiated for providing education to children without internet access.”
He also mentioned 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.
The Minister emphasized that Year 2020 will be remembered for National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 of Government of India.
The Minister mentioned that NEP’s aim to achieve 100% GER in school education by 2030, and 50% in Higher Education by the year 2035 will bring additional 35 million students into the fold of higher education.
He noted that NEP-2020 recommendations are in accordance with the SDG Goal 4, “Education for All’.
Ms. Audrey Azoulay appreciated the response of the Indian Government in mitigating the challenges of Covid and ensuring continuity of education during the pandemic by providing education to the students through different mediums of TV, Radio, online etc. to the last student of the country, said the release.
It added that she requested the Union Minister to share the experiences and best practices relating to education sector of India with member states of UNESCO, and on behalf of UNSECO, she extended full support in implementation of National Education Policy. (PR)
