New Delhi, Oct 25 (FN Agency) Union Minister for Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday called upon the youth to act as ‘catalysts’ of social change at the grassroots by driving skill development efforts. “We are moving towards an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India) under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji. Tremendous transformations taking place across various sectors will create demand for new skills and more skilled professionals and thus calls for skill mapping at district level and directing skill development efforts accordingly,” Pradhan said after launching the phase-II of Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) virtually on Monday.
The two-year fellowship seeks to combine classroom sessions by academic partner IIMs with an intensive field immersion at the district level to create credible plans and identify barriers in raising employment, economic output, and promote livelihoods in rural areas. He also called upon district collectors and academic partner IIMs to facilitate the fellows and script a success story of change through this fellowship. On National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Union Minister outlined the vision to create strong convergence between education and skills, and recent initiatives in this direction, including the academic bank of credit. He called upon the IIMs to make the fellows aware about the NEP.