Visitors Conference 2023 concludes with focus on National Education Policy

The two-day Visitor’s Conference hosted by Rashtrapati Bhavan concluded on Tuesday after with a focus on education for sustainable development. More than 150 heads of higher educational institutions (HEIs) such as IITs, NITs, IISERs, NIPERs, and Central Universities, along with Union Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan were present at the conference, to deliberate on the strengthening and smooth implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Five different groups also deliberated on such broad themes as international cooperation in education as part of G20 efforts, diversity and inclusivity in nation’s premier HEIs, and plans of action for Amrit Kaal.

In her concluding remarks, President Droupadi Murmu, the host of the Visitor’s Conference, and the Visitor of 162 central institutions of higher learning,  stressed on the NEP’s importance as a roadmap to transform India’s HEIs into global Education Centres.

She also said a policy is proved meaningful only when it is put into practice. Outcomes and results prove that a policy has been effectively implemented. Stressing the effective implementation of UPI and Digital India schemes, the president pointed out that today 46 per cent of all digital transactions in the world are made in India. She expressed confidence that similar transformative and inclusive results would be achieved in the field of higher education as well.

However, the President also stressed the need for sensitivity and awareness for students’ mental and physical health. Pointing to the suicide of a 20-year-old student in IIT Delhi last Saturday, the President said that such tragic incidents of suicide are becoming increasingly frequent amongst the nation’s HEIs. She emphasized that it should be the priority of educational institutions to protect and support their students against stress, humiliation, or neglect in their campuses.

The President said that just as the sensible and responsive head of a family, all the heads, teachers and staff of institutions should be sensitive to the needs of the students.

On the sideline of the Visitor’s Conference 2023, several industry leaders including, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, Rakesh Gangwal Co-Founder of Indigo Airlines, Subroto Bagchi of Mindtree, Shridhar Shukla of KPOINT Technologies, Roshni Nadar, Chairperson of HCL Technologies, and Ajay Piramal, Chairman of the Piramal Group, among others, donated more than Rs 1000 crores towards the various funds for the infrastructural and educational development, talent retention and capacity building in the nation’s top HEIs including the IITS, IISERs, IIMs etc.