VARANASI: The three-day Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagam, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Thursday, will adopt the Varanasi Declaration on Higher Education that will showcase India’s extended vision and a renewed commitment to help achieve the goals of higher education system.
The event is being organized by the Union ministry of education in association with the UGC and BHU at the Rudraksh Convention Centre.
Talking to reporters on Wednesday, UGC chairman Prof Jagadesh Kumar and BHU vice-chancellor Prof. Sudhir K Jain said that the three-day seminar will bring together over 400 vice-chancellors and directors from public and private universities, educationists, policy makers as also industry representatives to deliberate on how the implementation of National Education Policy 2020 can be taken further across the country after successful implementation of several initiatives in the last two years. UP Governor Anandiben Patel, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan will also attend the event.
The summit will provide a platform for leading Indian Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) to discuss, deliberate and share insights on strategies, success stories and best practices in implementing the National Education Policy, 2020. The ministry, along with UGC and AICTE, has brought in several policy initiatives like Academic Bank of Credit, Multiple Entry Exit, multi disciplinarity and flexibility in higher education, regulations aimed at boosting online and open distance learning, revising the National Curriculum Framework to make it more in sync with global standards, promoting multi linguality and Indian knowledge systems and making both a part of educational curriculum, mainstreaming skill education and promoting lifelong learning, to name a few.
Many universities have already on-boarded the reform train, but there are still many who are yet to adopt and adapt to the changes. As the higher educational ecosystem in the country spans centre, states and private entities, extensive consultations are required to take the policy implementation further. This process of consultation has been going on at the regional and national levels. The PM addressed a seminar of chief secretaries in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh last month where states shared their insights on the issue. Varanasi Shiksha Samagam is next in the series of consultations..
The summit is expected to provide a platform for thought-provoking discussions that will articulate the roadmap and implementation strategies, foster knowledge exchange and build networks through interdisciplinary deliberations and discuss challenges being faced by educational institutions and articulate solutions.
