PM SHRI: Way Forward to Futuristic Education in Amrit Kaal

Since 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has guided India’s hopes to become a wealthy country as we have entered the vibrant period of India’s amrit kaal, or “The Era of Elixir.” According to evidence, significant markers of a nation’s overall growth and prosperity include socio-economic factors including access to healthcare, high-quality education, technology, skill development, entrepreneurship, and gender equality. Our government has supplied the broad term “inclusive growth” in line with our commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 8 (Sustainable and Inclusive Economic Growth).

Technological Integration

PM Narendra Modi added “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan” on the day of India’s independence. ‘Amrit Kal’ emphasized the importance of technological innovation. India will change because to innovation and inventiveness. The goal of the policy makers is to eliminate the divide between individuals who can and cannot use developing technology. India is advancing in the sphere of education daily, not just by building new facilities but also by putting Artificial Intelligence (AI) to the greatest possible use. Indian medical professionals and researchers are always looking for new, sustainable, and cost-effective medical services and technology.

Eco-conscious Learning

India’s main goal in the next 25 years is to achieve “atma nirbharta,” or independence. We currently have the youngest in the world, who can fuel these dreams. These duties will soon fall to the 26 crore students enrolled in schools today. Making sure students have the necessary tools to succeed in the modern, 21st-century system is crucial. With this determination, India’s National Education strategy (NEP), the country’s third education strategy in 34 years, was introduced in 2020 with the overarching goal of raising education spending to 6% of GDP.

The innovative NEP 2020 approaches the delivery of education with a focus on quality. The program offers a number of ground-breaking reforms, including formalizing early childhood education, promoting multilingualism, avoiding strict stream distinctions, utilizing technology to facilitate learning and skill development, and others. The initiatives to enhance educational quality, such as competency-based assessments, play- and activity-based learning, and an emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN), are what really distinguish it. FLN has been given top priority in the policy, as FLN skills consist of critical gateway skills which will enable higher order learning and understanding. The policy estimates that over 5 crore children in India do not have FLN skills, and to solve for the same, the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN) Bharat Mission was launched in July 2021 at a cost of ₹13,000 crore, with the objective of ensuring universal acquisition of FLN skills among all grade 3 children in India by 2027.

The importance of upskilling youngsters to improve their employability has been emphasized even beyond the basic level of schooling. Since their separate launches in 2015 and 2018, the Skill India Mission and Kaushal Vikas Yojana have been instrumental in realizing this aim of connecting children’s education and practical real-world skills in India. Through these programs, over 2.9 crore individuals have received training in practical, relevant skills for successful work so far.

In order to become a center of innovation and prosperity, we have made considerable progress through programs like Start-Up India, which was introduced in 2016. Indian start-ups raised a record 35 billion dollars in 2021–2022 and another 24 billion dollars in 2022–2023; as a result, India now boasts the second-largest entrepreneurial ecosystem in the world. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi correctly stated, our work in skill development has set a strong foundation for our future generations to lead the globe in “job creation.”

India is making progress toward becoming a global superpower, and the PM’s leadership has been essential. The accomplishments in crucial fields that are supported by data show that we are ready to take on a significant global role. According to the United Nations Development Programme, through her welfare policies, India managed to uplift over 41.5 crore Indians out of multidimensional poverty in the last 15 years (UNDP, 2023), which is a commendable achievement.

However, the general sentiment is that such achievements are only the tip of the iceberg, and only a small showcase of the actual potential of Indians. As we enter the “azaadi ka amrit kaal,” these accomplishments serve as building blocks to pave the way for a resilient, empowered, and influential India.

Sustainable and Inclusive Development

India has emerged as a major economic force in the world and has played a leading role in the battle against climate change during the past ten years. Which may be credited with starting when our Prime Minister said that India will attain “net zero” carbon emissions by 2070 at the COP26 meeting. The introduction of “Mission LiFE”—Living for the climate—pushed all Indians to take action and move toward an ecologically aware lifestyle, creating a favorable climate for India to develop sustainably in the future.

The New India movement also advocates gender equality. The leaders of the nation are promoting equal participation and representation of women at all workplaces by providing them fair and equal opportunities and ensuring their upliftment through various schemes and programs such as ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’.

The emphasis has moved to investing in education and other child welfare programs that guarantee access to basic education in order to convert India’s enormous population into its largest asset. Young people in New India are given the freedom to express themselves, pursue their interests, and perform to the best of their abilities.