New Education Policy will make India global educational hub: Naidu

Expressing concern over India's slide from the heights of Nalanda and Takshila to not being among the world's top 100 educational institutions now, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said the new educational policy will make India a global educational hub.

He urged the public to give their views and suggestions on the draft New Education Policy (NEP) by August 15.

Naidu also called for a holistic and value based education that will lay strong foundations for India's emergence as a vibrant economy.

He spoke on the challenges to Indian education after releasing a book 'The Dynamics of Indian Eduction' authored by V S Rajput at the vice president's residence.

"These are the critical times for the country and there is a need for having a fresh look at the education system. I have been consistently advocating the need for revamping the education system to not only make our universities world class, but to make India the knowledge hub," he said.

He expressed concern over India's slide from the heights of Nalanda and Takshila to not being among the world's top 100 educational institutions now and said the new educational policy will make India a global educational hub.

The vice president said he is glad that the draft NEP makes several out-of-the-box suggestions that have the potential to turn India into a global eduction hub.

Naidu stressed that primary education should be in mother tongue which enables learning other languages effectively at later stages. Highlighting the knowledge traditions of India, he referred to several German Universities promoting Sanskrit to decipher ancient palm leafs and scriptures for clues for scientific innovation.

Speaking on the occasion, former Union Minister Arif Mohammad Khan said the land of India for ages is marked with the tradition of knowledge and wisdom.

He quoted Prophet Mohammad as having said, "Sitting in Mecca, I am feeling the cool breeze of knowledge from India. I am an Arab without Arabness; I am not an Indian but feel the Indianness."