Supporting the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020, Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Arlikar on Sunday stressed the need for research-oriented education, interdisciplinary learning and critical thinking to prepare the youth to face future challenges, and asked the students whether they aspire to be job creators or just job seekers.
“We always have to think about the education we impart to students. You must have heard about the National Education Policy 2020, which was adopted by our country in 2020,” Arlikar said, while delivering his 38th Graduation Day address at the Coimbatore-based RVS Group of Institutions.
“We must understand the purpose of the NEP: it is not just an exercise done after setting up a committee that leads to something different. No. We have seen how education is imparted and passed on to the next generation.” He said.
Pointing out that India should have implemented its own educational system soon after gaining independence, Arlikar said: “In 1947, we could have done it, but we failed to do so.”
Making it clear that he does not blame anyone for this, the governor said: “Our leadership at that time should have thought about it. Once we gained independence, we could have had a different kind of education system, but instead, we thought of doing what the British gave us.”
“That colonial thought was the educational thought and that colonial process was our education in that day and even to some extent today.” He remembers.
Pointing out that the National Education Policy was headed by the late great scholar Kasturi Ranjan who was the chairman of the committee behind the National Education Policy, Arlikar said, “The committee sat together for over two years and they thought that something should be done, so that our education system does not create servants or slaves. We wanted to have a master’s degree in education, and in every field of our lives. This was the goal of the National Education Policy 2020 and this should have been done earlier.”
Deriding the current education system as a mere “memory test,” the governor said, “If you remember, at the time of taking the exam, that you are good at getting marks, you are good at exams. Your knowledge does not matter but your whole memory does. It is a test of memory.”
He stressed that the multidisciplinary education system allows the student to learn many subjects, and explained: “(With the implementation of the National Education Policy) even if I study engineering, I can study art, commerce or music because I have a talent and I have some passion to understand other subjects as well.”
Encouraging students to do research, he said, “We were just imparting the education written in the textbooks, and we were just happy to write exams based on the textbooks.”
“Research is essential and every educational institution must have a research programme. Otherwise students will not be able to develop their skills and talents. Whatever is given to us, we will learn it by heart, tell it to someone else and pass it on to the next generation – that’s all.” He said.
Emphasizing that India has a “big legacy” in terms of education system, he said: “Let us follow the traditional education system along with the latest trends in technology. Let us mix it together, let us bring it together.”
He further said, “The traditional education system and the latest digital technologies can be blended together and this education can be passed on to our next generation.”
“Can’t we impart education that will make ‘job creators’ instead of job seekers? Our education system should aim to create job givers. To create job givers, your education system should include an incubation center and an entrepreneurship development cell,” he said.
