Technology can play key role in taking education to last mile: VP Venkaiah Naidu

NEW DELHI: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said technology can play a key role in taking education to the last mile by transcending barriers. He also called for "Indianising" the education system based on the country's wealth of ancient wisdom and said the colonial education system has created an inferiority complex and diffidence in people. Naidu said there is a need for a value-based transformation in the education system, as envisioned in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Referring to the important role of technology in democratising education, he said the untapped potential of the students can be harnessed for the larger good when education is taken to the last mile. Naidu also emphasised the need for the country to emerge as a global hub of innovation, learning and intellectual leadership, according to a statement issued by the Vice President Secretariat. Inaugurating the Rishihood University here, Naidu recalled that India was once hailed as the "Vishwa Guru". "We had great institutions like Nalanda, Takshashila and Pushpagiri where students from all corners of the world came to learn," he said, adding that the country must regain that pre-eminent position.

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Recalling that India has had a glorious tradition of holistic education, the vice president called for reviving that tradition and transforming the educational landscape while urging new universities to take the lead in this regard. Noting that education plays a vital role in the transformation of a nation, he called for taking up education as a "mission". Stressing the need for all-around improvement on the education front, Naidu said the quality of research, teaching at all levels, rankings by international agencies, employability of graduates and many other aspects of the education system need to be toned up. He urged every educational institution in the country to implement the NEP in letter and spirit. Former Union minister and the chancellor of the university, Suresh Prabhu, was among those present at the event.