President Ram Nath Kovind has said the task of the government is to help create the right environment in which young minds will be fired with creativity.
The President, the chief guest at the fifth convocation ceremony of the Central University of Kerala (CUK), said the National Education Policy (NEP) of 2020 was a well-planned roadmap to develop an ecosystem that would nurture talent of the young generation.
The NEP’s aim was to prepare students for the world of tomorrow, while also equipping them with the best of India’s own traditions.
Mr. Kovind said the outstanding feature of the NEP was that it aimed to promote both inclusion and excellence. Through its varied curricula, the NEP promoted liberal as well as professional education, because each stream of knowledge had a role to play in society and nation-building.
“That way, the NEP can become instrumental for India to harness and reap the demographic dividend,” he added.
He said the country’s growing population made it “incumbent upon us to nurture the next generation talent”.
Acknowledging Kerala, the President said the Union government had recommended the names of three cities for being listed in UNESCO’s Global Network of Learning and two of them were from Kerala. These two cities were Thrissur and Nilambur. Being part of this global network would support the achievement of sustainable development goals, especially the goal of ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting life-long learning opportunities for all, he said.
He said knowledge power would determine the place of a nation in the global community and Kerala had led the other States on the critical parameters of literacy and education. .
Mr. Kovind handed over gold medals to three graduates. A total of 742 students graduated in which 29 were awarded bachelor degrees, 652 postgraduate degrees, 52 PhD degrees, and nine PG diplomas.
Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and Local Self-Government Minister M.V. Govindan attended the ceremony.
