New Delhi, Sep 7 (FN Bureau) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched several initiatives in the education sector including a dictionary for sign language, as he addressed the inaugural conclave of ‘Shikshak Parv’ as he stressed on the holistic education system. Addressing teachers and students, the Prime Minister said the programmes launched today will help shape the future of India. “As India is celebrating ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, we are making new resolutions for how India should be at 100 years of independence.
The programmes started today will play an important role in shaping the future of India,” Modi said in his speech in Hindi. “A holistic education system is vital for national transformation. Here is a good thread offering a glimpse of the transformation in the field of education in the last 7 years,” he later said in a tweet. The Prime Minister, in his address, praised students, teachers and the entire academic community for rising up to the challenge of pandemic and asked them to take forward the capabilities developed to deal with that difficult time. “If we are in the midst of a transformation period, fortunately, we also have a modern and futuristic new National Education Policy,” he said. He congratulated all on reopening of schools, adding that Covid norms should be strictly adhered to. “There’s a glow on everyone’s face, possibly because schools have been reopened. Going to school after a long time has its own pleasure, but we also have to strictly observe Covid norms,” he said.
In the sign language dictionary, the Prime Minister said sign language has been a part of India’s culture for a long time, but it is the first time it has become a part of the curriculum. The other initiatives launched on Tuesday include talking books, Vidyanjali 2.0 portal, NISHTHA 3.0 and school quality assessment. Talking books are audio books for the visually impaired, Vidyanjali portal facilitates education volunteers, donors and CSR contributors for school development. NISHTHA is a teachers’ training programme. School Quality Assessment and AssuranceFramework (S.Q.A.A.F) , which was operationalized today, would address the deficiency of the absence of a common scientific framework for dimensions like curricula, pedagogy, assessment, infrastructure, inclusive practices and governance process. SQAAF will help in bridging this inequality. The theme of ‘Shikshak Parv-2021’ is “Quality and Sustainable Schools: Learnings from Schools in India.”