India has pride to put knowledge above all, says Kiren Rijiju

Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday termed education as the cornerstone in the foundation of nation-building and said that India has the pride to place knowledge above all.

Attending the eighth convocation of North East Regional Institute of Science and Technology (NERIST) here, the minister asked the students to harmonise the traditional learning in philosophy, law and medicine with the modern Indian learning ecosystem.

NERIST is a deemed-to-be university under the Union ministry of education.

The National Education Policy 2020 "has a holistic vision of transforming the way children and youth will be educated and making learning a part of personal development while also serving the need of society, Rijiju said.

It will help develop new integrated courses that will aid in securing diverse career options in various fields and also emphasised the need for moral education and awareness of Indian culture, he added.

Rijiju said that as per the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a student coming out of the new education policy would have a higher degree of self-confidence and be better equipped to meet the challenges of the future.

Science and technology are duly recognised as the vehicle to take India into the front ranks of the nations of the world. There is a need to build a large pool of scientific and technical manpower to aid our progress," he said.

He exuded confidence that apart from making the graduates employable, NERIST could encourage its students to go for start-ups by generating alumni and corporate sector support.