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Press Release

Education is for enlightenment, not merely for employment: Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu

Dec 09, 2019


 

NEW DELHI, 9 December 2019: Mr M Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India, today said that education is meant for enlightenment rather than just getting a job even as he appealed to the private sector to help transform India�s education sector.

 

Speaking at the FICCI ARISE Conference 2019 on the theme 'Future Ready Learners and Schools', Mr Naidu said that everything cannot be done by the government and the well-meaning private sector needs to come forward.

 

"It is the duty of the society to participate in nation-building. That's where the private sector plays a very important role in a huge country like India where you have so many challenges," he said pointing at the transition going on in the education sector.

 

Mr Naidu said that even today 18% to 20% of people live below the poverty line, they cannot read and write, and there is social and gender discrimination in certain areas. Besides, another challenge is that people equate education with employment.

 

"Education basically is for enlightenment. It is for enhancement of knowledge and for empowerment. Finally, education is also for employment. We have to focus our attention on creating enlightenment and enhancing the knowledge," he added.

 

By 2030, the number of school-going children in the age bracket of 4-17 years is estimated to be 300 million, and 140 million in the age bracket of 18-23 years will be enrolled in colleges and universities, the Vice President said.

 

Further, he said that the draft National Education Policy 2019 envisions an India-centric education system that contributes directly to transforming India sustainably into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society by providing quality education to all.

 

Mr Sandip Somany, President, FICCI, said that the theme of the conference 'Future Ready Learners and Schools' aims to look at preparing today's children for the future that is dynamic, disruptive and uncertain.

 

"The UNDP estimates indicate that the total financial requirement for India to reach SDG-4 by 2030 is $2,258 billion, which for the years 2017-2030 averages $173 billion per year, far exceeding the current government budget of $51.5 billion a year for education," Mr Somany added.

 

Mr Naga Prasad Tummala, Chairperson, FICCI ARISE, and Director, People Combine Initiatives, said, "The focus of education should be about character building and it should also help develop critical thinking capability in students."

 

"FICCI ARISE is the youngest organization on the national educational scene. Within four years it has emerged as the maximum contributor to furtherance of education. The key mantras of FICCI ARISE are transparency, collaboration and solutions approach. I congratulate all its members on the 3rd National Conference on School Education," Mr Tummala said.

 

Today's inaugural session will be followed by the conference on 10th December 2019, in the presence of dignitaries like Mr Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, Government of India; Ms Anita Karwal, Chairperson, CSBE; and Mr TV Mohandas Pai, Padma Shri Awardee and Chairman, Manipal Global Education; among other leaders from the industry.

 

There will be engaging panel discussions on topics like 'What Keeps Education Leaders Awake at Night?', Vocationalization of Education, Taking Change to Scale and Impact of Regulation on Teaching and Learning.

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