Sensitise youth to ‘rich Indian knowledge systems’: Minister

The first three G20 Education Working Group Meetings were held in Chennai, Amritsar and Bhubaneswar respectively.

Chandrakant Patil, youth Sensitization, rich Indian knowledge systems, NEP 2020, G20 Education Working Group Meeting, Uni20 gathering at Symbiosis Institute, Pune education news, indian express news

Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla Chief Coordinator for India’s G20 Presidency and Professor (Dr) S B Mujumdar during the inauguration of Uni20 at Symbiosis International University on Tuesday. Express

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Maharashtra’s Minister of Higher and Technical Education Chandrakant Patil on Tuesday called for sensitising the youth to the “rich Indian knowledge systems”. Patil was speaking at an event held in sync with the ongoing 4th G20 Education Working Group Meeting in the city.

“It is time to embrace the education system that India offered at Nalanda and Takshshila a long time ago,” said Patil while addressing the Uni20 gathering at Symbiosis Institute at Lavale.
Speaking at the inauguration of the three-day conference on ‘The Future of Universities: The Transformative Role of Universities’, the BJP leader stressed the need to discard an education system which, he said, limits critical thinking and inquiry.

“The National Education Policy (NEP) is a major step in revamping higher education in India,” he said. “Discussions on the NEP are going on and this year its implementation will start,” Patil, who recently announced that over 1,400 institutes in the state are ready to implement the NEP in the coming academic session, said.

Speaking about the primacy given by India to education during its G20 Presidency, Patil said, “This is an excellent opportunity for India to regain its status as ‘Vishwaguru’ (global teacher).”

The minister also highlighted Pune’s importance as a hub for quality education and its status as the city with the highest number of universities in India. “Over 6 lakh students come here from all states of India and 85 different countries,” the minister said.

“Pune offers students just the right blend of academic exposure and great cultural sensitisation due to the diversity of students.” This was echoed by Chief Coordinator for India’s G20 Presidency Harsh Vardhan Shringla. He pointed out that Pune is home to 15 out of 42 universities of Maharashtra. “We have ensured that our presidency is an inclusive one that celebrates diversity,” he said. “In this regard we have taken the G20 away from our capital city of Delhi to all states and Union Territories.”

The first three G20 Education Working Group Meetings were held in Chennai, Amritsar and Bhubaneswar respectively.

Working group sets stage for education ministers meet tomorrow

Pune: The 4th G20 Education Working Group met on Tuesday to deliberate on outcome documents that will be presented at the meeting of Education Ministers of all G20 nations on June 22, according to an official statement.

The meeting, which focused on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN), was chaired by G20 India Chair and Secretary, Department of Higher Education K Sanjay Murthy.

According to the statement, Chief Coordinator of India’s G20 Presidency Harsh Vardhan Shringla emphasised the important lessons from the previous three Education Working Group meetings and India’s dedication to an inclusive international order. International organisations like UNICEF, OECD and UNESCO also presented reports at the meeting.

Earlier, the G20 delegates had visited cultural heritage sites in the city such as Shaniwar Wada, Nana Wada and Lal Mahal as part of a Heritage Walk, the statement said.