Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday stated that the era of teaching is over, now the way forward in education is only through learning. The new National Education Policy (NEP) lays special emphasis on practical-based learning unlike the traditional textual teaching that we have seen since Independence, Modi said addressing the 29th Biennial Akhil Bhartiya Praathmik Shikshak Sangh’s education summit in Gandhinagar.

“In the fast changing world of the 21st century, the Indian education system is changing, the teachers are changing and the students are also changing... Today, India is creating new education systems, considering the changing times. The National Education Policy (NEP) is framed keeping that in mind to transform those irrelevant past academic methods. Practical ke sath padhai (Learning with practical), is the soul of the NEP,” said Modi asking the teachers to adopt the practical-based learning for students.

Modi also stated that the provision in NEP for education in mother tongue has far-reaching benefits. “The British ruled us for 250 years, still the English language remains confined to a specific class. Unfortunately, after Independence a system evolved, where only English medium education started getting priority. This caused a lot of damage. Hundreds of thousands of teachers who were educated in their mother tongue and didn’t get an opportunity to learn English, faced a threat to their jobs due to the growing importance of the English medium. In order to protect their employment, we are focusing on education in mother tongue,” he said.

Deep learning

The Prime Minister also underlined the need for deep learning amidst the information overload at the advent of technology and internet. “Today, students have multiple sources of information. They are giving teachers a challenge to stay updated with them and address their curiosity. This is an opportunity to learn, unlearn and relearn. No technology in the world can teach how to do deep learn and focus on one thing, when there is a flood of information. Google can give data, but the decision has to be taken by one’s self. Only a guru can guide students to make adequate use of the information,” he said.

Later in the day during his Gujarat visit on Friday, Modi inaugurated development projects worth ₹2,450 crore that included foundation stone laying for urban development projects, water supply projects, road and transport projects and projects in the mines and minerals space. He also handed over and laid foundation stone for a combined 30,441 residences worth ₹1,762 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) and handed over 12,000 houses worth ₹184 crore under PMAY (Rural) in presence of Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel at an event in Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar.

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