The Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu called for a re- look into the way students are trained in colleges and schools and said that there is need to move away from textbook knowledge, rigid ideas and examination marks and to focus on well informed, open debates.Addressing the 55th Annual Prize Distribution Ceremony of Shyam Lal College in New Delhi today, the Vice President asked centres of higher education to replace long hours of lecturing with newer teaching methods using case studies, problem solving and role playing, to improve employability.Saying that acquisition of employable skills and knowledge were tools to succeed in modern day careers, Shri Naidu urged Institutions of higher education to develop an industry focus and encourage students to take up live projects, internships and enable them to constantly interact with industry and corporate bodies.Expressing concern over the poor global ranking of Indian institutions, the Vice President said that our quest for excellence in education would remain unfulfilled if we fail to achieve international standards in higher education.Asking higher educational institutions such as Shyam Lal College to strive for excellence, Shri Naidu opined that excellence was always the result of unwavering dedication, intelligent planning, and relentless determination and focused effort.Talking about India’s incredible demographic dividend, Shri Naidu stressed upon the need to educate the burgeoning youth population and equip them with employable skills to harness the immense youth power to make India a global leader.
Opining that neglecting education would adversely impact growth of the nation as a whole, the Vice President said that there was an urgent and imminent need to re-think and re-engineer the entire education system.Shri Naidu stressed upon the need to fundamentally re-cast the education system, institutions, pedagogy, teaching and learning methods and said that a beginning must be made from primary education. He opined that ensuring access, diversity, equity and quality in primary education was an essential component in all such efforts.Shri Naidu also suggested increasing investment in education from the current 3% of GDP to at least 6% by 2022, as recommended by NITI Aayog. He wanted institutions especially schools in rural areas, to ensure not only 100% enrolment but also make sure that all children learn at a high level of proficiency and make sure that no child was left behind.In order to improve the state of primary education, the Vice President suggested a renewed focus on childhood nutrition. He said we must not let education be held hostage in the vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition He also wanted special attention towards children belonging to vulnerable sections such as the differently abled.Pointing out that Vedic Age presented equality of opportunity and freedom of thought and expression to both men and women, Shri Naidu opined that educating the girl child was the most essential component of women empowerment. He added that programs for educating girl children should become people’s movements if their objectives are to be achieved.The Vice President distributed prizes to meritorious students and lauded the efforts of the institution in providing education to poor and marginalized sections of society at the heart of the national capital.Prof. Yogesh Tyagi, the Vice Chancellor, University of Delhi, Smt. Savita Gupta, Chairperson Governing Body, Prof. Rabi Narayan Kar, Principal, Shyam Lal College, faculty and students of Shyam Lal College were present at the venue.