In the last seven years of the Modi government, one ministry that has witnessed the most changes due to a lack of performance is the Ministry of Education (formerly Ministry of HRD).
Initially, Smriti Irani was appointed to the Ministry but given her fair share of controversies regarding her fake degree, her Yale education and a lack of performance, the Ministry was handed over to Prakash Javadekar.
However, Javadekar proved to be even more ineffective, and his infamous statement that “We have not changed a single word in NCERT syllabus” cost him his position. Uttarakhand leader Ramesh Pokhriyal was appointed to the Ministry in the second term but in the last reshuffle even he was shown the exit door given his dismal performance over the last two years.
Now Prime Minister Modi has turned to Dharmendra Pradhan, who has won the trust of the Prime Minister and other senior leaders with his excellent implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna and his overall performance at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Now the task of the speedy implementation of the National Education Policy 2020, a visionary document that has been praised by the people across the political spectrum, lies in the hands of Pradhan and the efficiency with which he has implemented programs like Ujjwala Yojna, one can expect a better probability of success.
Just a few days after taking over the Ministry, Pradhan launched the “School Innovation Ambassador Training Program” which aims to train 50,000 teachers in innovation, entrepreneurship, IPR, design thinking, product development, and idea generation, among others.
“The teachers are the biggest influence in our lives. We aim to make our teachers, change agents, and ambassadors of innovation to make our students future-ready,” Pradhan said at the launch.
Since the day Prime Minister Modi came to power, he has emphasised the need for training in skills and entrepreneurship. He even created a new ministry for the same. Although there has been a rise in the entrepreneurial spirit of the country, it still lacks training in skills among youth. The main reason behind this is the failure of the Ministry of Education, which has been the main mode of government’s interaction with the youth, was lying in incompetent hands.
Hence, the Prime Minister gave the Ministry of Education to Dharmendra Pradhan who already had the Ministry of Skills Development to ensure that the youth of the country are aptly trained in skills and innovation.
“During the cabinet reshuffle, PM Modi too emphasised on treating skill and education as issues of equal importance, which is why they were placed under one leader,” said Pradhan.
“The new National Education Policy gives the roadmap to take India’s skilling to a global level and map the skills required in the country. Post Covid, recovery of the economy now depends on how fast we can skill our youth and make them employable,” he added.
With Dharmendra Pradhan at the helm of affairs, one can expect that the revolutionary draft of the National Education Policy would be implemented in letter and spirit. Moreover, the education system of the country, which still reeks of the colonial hangover, would be overhauled to better provide for the needs of a New India.
