A technology-driven approach and initiatives such as digital university in line with the new National Education Policy (NEP) will be key to enhance access to quality education, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said.

“There is a need to adopt innovative and out-of-the-box methods to enhance access to quality and affordable education and to bring our vast population under the formal education and certified skills structure. Creating robust and resilient mechanisms for making education accessible to all is a priority for the government,” Pradhan said in his address at India Today’s Education Conclave.

“Technology-driven approach and initiatives like Digital University in line with the NEP-2020 will be key to enhance access to quality education. NEP sets the vision and path to cater to the requirements of every learner right from Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) and also for building a vibrant and equitable knowledge society. We are working to integrate skill education into school and higher education to boost employability,” he said.

Speaking about future of jobs and skilling, he said that the nature of jobs is changing, and Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0 presents us with both challenge and opportunity of skilling, up-skilling and re-skilling the country’s vast demography.

“We must bring a paradigm shift in skilling and make it more aspirational to harness IR 4.0 as well as make our youth future-ready. NEP charts the course to develop our students and youth as global citizens with new-age ideas and skills and prioritises learning in Indian languages for establishing India as a knowledge economy of the 21st century,” he added.