NEP will help create jobs, entrepreneurs: Pokhriyal

Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal on Tuesday said the NEP will facilitate creating of jobs and entrepreneurs and help the country's education system meet the global standards.

The New Education Policy 2020 will benefit students, he said addressing the 22nd convocation of IIT Guwahati through a video conference.

"There was no change in the education policy for almost last three decades. Everyone has welcomed it and the new policy has received an overwhelming response from all segments of the society. Before finalising, we had consulted teachers, students, parents and other sections," Union education minister said.

The NEP will help "the Indian education system align with the global standards" in the coming years, he said.

"As former President APJ Abdul Kalam had stated during an IIT-Guwahati convocation programme here that education should create jobs and entrepreneurs, the NEP is aimed at doing the same thing. It will help create jobs and entrepreneurs in our society," Pokhriyal said.

The NEP approved by the Union Cabinet replaces the 34 -year-old National Policy on Education framed in 1986 and is aimed at paving the way for transformational reforms in school and higher education systems to make India a global knowledge superpower.

A choice between three or four-year undergraduate courses, multiple entry and exit options in degree courses, adding 3.5 crore seats in higher education institutions, which will now have a single regulator, discontinuation of M.Phil programmes and fixation of fees are among the higher education reforms outlined in the NEP.

A total of 1,803 PhD, postgraduate and undergraduate students of IIT-Guwahati have been given their degrees during the convocation programme.

"The IIT-Guwahati has played an important role in innovation during COVID-19 times. It invented many products. Even the campus is being used as COVID Care Centre, which is a contribution towards the fight against novel coronavirus," Pokhriyal said.

Speaking on the occasion, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal also lauded the institute for extending its support to the state government to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

He appreciated research works of IIT-Guwahati for controlling the perennial flood and erosion problems in Assam.