The implementation of NEP-2020 will transform the education system of the country – Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’

New Delhi: Union Minister of Education Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ today virtually inaugurated the National Education Day(RashtriyaShikshaDiwas) programme as the Chief Guest. The programme was organised by Indian Institute of Technology Bombay to commemorate the birth anniversary of India’s First Education Minister MaulanaAbulKalam Azad.The birth anniversary of MaulanaAbulKalam Azad on 11 November is celebrated as the National Education Day.Dr. K. Kasturirangan, Former Chairman, ISRO and Chairman of the committee for drafting the New Education Policy was the Guest of Honor for the occasion.

Inaugurating the National Education Day programme, ShriPokhriyal in his address said “Through ‘Study in India, Stay in India and Internationalization of Education’, we are committed to establishing India as a global hub of education.To ensure high quality of education, it is also necessary that we move forward with cooperation, coordination and agreement with the leading universities of the world. This has been incorporated in NEP 2020 by inviting Top 100 World Universities to set up campus in India.”

ShriPokhriyal highlighted that IIT Bombay is a leading global technologicalinstitution that provides transformative education to create leadersand innovators, and generates new knowledge for society and industry.The implementation of NEP-2020 will transform the education system of the country, he added. The Minister congratulated all the awardees for their dedicated work to take research and development in India to greater heights. He appealed to students to use science and technology for the benefit of the people of India. He asked themto contribute in the nation building initiatives as we are the world’s biggest nation in terms of human capital.

The Director Prof.SubhasisChaudhurigave away the IIT Bombay Research Excellence Awards 2019. The IIT Bombay Research Excellence Awards wereinstituted since the last several years to recognize the R&D efforts of IIT Bombay faculty. The awards include:

Research Publication Award (5 awards) given to recognize original research results in peer reviewed publications and/or other forms such as exhibits (e.g., design, film).
Research dissemination award (3 awards) given to recognize outstanding efforts to disseminate research through monographs/ books/ review chapters/ review papers.
Early research achiever award (3 awards) – awarded to young researchers who have already shown their potential for producing outstanding original work.
The Director of IIT Bombay Prof.SubhasisChaudhuri said, “National Education Policy 2020 formulated by the Education Ministry is very comprehensive in its scope and through a proper assimilation we expect a big boost in the quality of education for all students in India. At IIT Bombay, we look forward to leveraging the key spirits embodied in this policy document in making our offerings more expansive, substantive and socially relevant. As we celebrate the National Education Day, we reaffirm our commitments to providing quality education and excellence in research.”

The Chief Guest conferred Professor KrithiRamamritham Award for creative research-2019 to Prof.Jayakrishnan Nair, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Bombayfor his significant research contributions in”Uncertainty management in the smart, renewable-rich power grid”, and to Prof. VarunBhalerao, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay, for his significant research contributions in “Electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave sources”. The award carries a citation and a cash incentive of Rs. 1,00,000/- each and it is given from endowment grant given by Prof. Jayant R. Harista, IISc, Bangaluru.

Guest of Honour Dr. K Kasturirangan, in his address said, “National Education Policy 2020 represents an integrated yet flexible approach to education; duly taking cognizance of the interconnectedness of the various phases of education in mind, and how the same will enable continuity, coherence and processes to ultimately realize an end-to-end educational road-map for the country.”

The inauguration was followed by a workshop on National Education Policy 2020. The workshop included talks by Prof. B. N. Jagatap, IIT Bombay, Dr.Jaitirth ‘Jerry’ Rao, entrepreneur, Founder of VBHC and HFFC and Prof.Dhruba J. Saikia, TIFR, ex-VC, Cotton College State University.