New National Education Policy shows progress: President Murmu

President Murmu highlights the transformative impact of the National Education Policy on cultivating young minds and shaping the future.

“Cultivating young minds and creating a new mindset that takes the best of traditions and contemporary knowledge is priority, and the new National Education Policy (NEP) has already started showing results in this regard,” President Droupadi Murmu said on Wednesday (August 14, 2024).

Addressing the Nation on the evening of the 78th Independence Day, President Murmu said the Amrit Kaal, which is the ongoing period of a quarter century leading to the centenary of the country's Independence, is going to be shaped by the youth of today.

"It is their energy and enthusiasm that will help the nation scale new heights. Cultivating the young minds and creating a new mindset that takes the best of the traditions and the contemporary knowledge is our priority. To this end, the National Education Policy, launched in 2020, has already started showing results," she said.

The President noted that to harness talent, the Government has come up with initiatives to facilitate skilling, employment and other opportunities for the youth.

"The Prime Minister's package of five schemes for employment and skilling will benefit 4.1 crore youth over five years. Under a new initiative of the Government, one crore youth will be doing internships in leading companies over five years. All this will be a foundational contribution towards building Viksit Bharat," she said.

The NEP, which was announced in 2020, replaced the National Policy on Education that was adopted in 1986.

The new policy bats for the extension of the Right to Education (RTE) Act to all schools — from pre-school to Class 12 instead of Class 1 to Class 8. It redraws the schooling system on a 5+3+3+4 formula instead of the current 10+2 model.