Describing the new education policy as a major milestone in the making of an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore developed systems at Visva-Bharati which were the medium of modernising Indian education and freeing it from the shackles of slavery.
Mr. Modi, who was virtually addressing the convocation at Visva-Bharati University, said the new education policy promoted entrepreneurship and self-employment, research and innovation. “This education policy is a major milestone in the making of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” he said.
The Prime Minister said West Bengal had served as an inspiration for ‘Ek Bharat-Shreshth Bharat’ (One India-Superior India) and added that Visva-Bharati would play a big role in the 21st century knowledge economy, taking Indian knowledge and identity to every corner of the world. He urged the students of Visva-Bharati to prepare a vision document for next 25 years about when the country would celebrate 100 years of independence.
Mr. Modi said students should utilise the knowledge for society and should not be part of the problem but of solution. “Those who are spreading terror and violence across the world are highly educated and highly skilled. On the other hand, there are people who are risking their lives and stationed at hospitals and labs to save people from a pandemic like COVID-19,” Mr. Modi said.
Highest goal
The Prime Minister said Gurudev Tagore named the university Visva-Bharati, meaning ‘Global University’, since he expected that anyone who came to learn in the university would see the whole world from the point of view of India. He said Visva-Bharati was not just a knowledge imparting institution but an attempt to reach highest goal about realising the self. “So, he made Visva-Bharati such a place to learn, which can be seen in the rich heritage of India. He gave a call for assimilating and researching about the Indian heritage and working towards solving the problems of the poorest of the poor,” the Prime Minister said.
During the half an hour speech, Mr. Modi quoted Tagore’s poem Chhatrapati Shivaji on the unity of India and also Gandhian Shri Dharampal’s book ‘The Beautiful Tree- Indigenous Indian Education in the Eighteenth Century.”
