Youth to be Pro-Active Participants in Nation-Building, Says President Shri Pranab Mukherjee

Inaugurating the National Day Education celebration, the President Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that it is education that can lead to the trinity of progress, which are greater political participation, social emancipation and upward economic mobility. He further said that we have traversed a long distance from just one out of four children in school in the early fifties to a school accessible to every child today and almost universal enrolment with gender parity. In recent times, our expenditure on education has risen - from 2.9 percent of GDP in 2008-09 to 3.3 percent in 2013-14. The President was speaking at the celebration to mark the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. The President added that there is need to propagate technology use in the dispensation of education. A fast digitalizing world holds scope to usher in sweeping changes in pedagogy and teaching-learning structures. Our efforts in harnessing new technology are at a nascent stage. We cannot afford to lose time. We have to leverage our advanced technological institutions and leadership position in IT. Alongside, we have to remove the wedge between digital haves and have-nots. Later Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India went on to extoll the exemplary contributions of Maulana Azad in nation building, Institution-building and particulary his indelible imprints in the field of education. Speaking on the occasion the Union Minister of Human Resource Development Smt Smriti Irani said that Maulana Azads contribution towards nation building and in the field of education is immense. Emphasizing the importance of teacher in education, Smt Irani said that they are fulcrum of entire education system. Teacher should not merely be concerned with INCOME but also the OUTCOME to help improve the quality of education. She said that the Mission of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan is to enable higher educational institutions to work with the people of rural India in identifying development challenges and evolving appropriate solutions for accelerating sustainable growth. Dr. Najma Heptullah, Minister of Minority Affairs remembered Maulana Azad and said that there is a need to adopt a pragmatic view that blends modernity into tradition and synthesizes our inherent traditional strengths with modern day needs without losing our values. Earlier on the occasion, Ministers of State for Human Resource Development, Shri Upendra Kushwaha and Shri Ram Shankar Katheria were also among the dignitaries who paid floral tributes to the great visionary and first Education Minister of Independent India, Maulana Azad. To mark the celebration of National Education Day, two scholarships were launched. The Union Minister of HRD, Smt Smriti Irani launched Saksham by distributing the scholarship to the children. Saksham is a college scholarship for specially abled, needy and meritorious, children for pursuing the technical education. The Minister of Minority Affairs, Dr. Najma Heptullah, launched the scholarship Pragati by distributing scholarship amount to girl students, who are pursuing technical education at college level. Later, the President of India, launched the websites of Know Your College Portal and Unnat Bharat Abhiyan. Know your College Portal is an application developed for helping a prospective student to make a valued judgment of the college he/she wishes to join by providing him/her the necessary information about the same. The Mission of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan is to enable higher educational institutions to work with the people of rural India in identifying development challenges and evolving appropriate solutions for accelerating sustainable growth. Skill Credit Framework document which is Skill Assessment Matrix for Vocational Advancement of Youth (SAMVAY) was also launched at the Celebration. SAMVAY allows multiple pathways between Vocational education-skills, Education and job markets. This will facilitate India to harness the potential of young India. Shri Satya N. Mohanty, Secretary, Higher Education, Shri R. Bhattacharya, Secretary, School Education and Literacy were also present on the occasion which was attended by many dignitaries, senior Government Officers and school children.

Youth to be Pro-Active Participants in Nation-Building, Says President Shri Pranab Mukherjee

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