New Delhi: The new National Education Policy (NEP-2020) envisages that we should be spending at least 6 per cent of our GDP in education. Currently we are spending only 4.6 per cent of our GDP on education. It is imperative that while the economy is growing, we need to invest more on education, said Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, Government of India on Saturday.

Addressing the 5th ‘FICCI ARISE School Education Conference 2022,’ here, Kumar while highlighting the role of technology in the education system said that we are at a new cusp today. “We are moving away from the book-based education system and technology is playing a key role in it,” he added. He further stated that liberal arts need to regain its ground and the industry, academia must work towards it. “Let us reimagine our system before we reboot,” he said.

The Secretary mentioned that there are around 260 million students from Class 1 to 12 in India who are going to 1.48 million schools including 1.05 million government schools. There are around 9.6 million teachers, who are part of these schools. So, their trainings and infrastructure should also be addressed. The government, he said, is committed in providing necessary support to the sector. “This is the time when we must start looking and capitalizing on the NEP,” asserted Kumar.

Highlighting the importance of the New Education Policy 2020, Kumar said that the NEP-2020 encapsulates the DNA of the society and how a society has to develop and build itself around education is envisaged in it. The NEP also put its focus on foundational literacy and numeracy and the policy looks at children till the age of 8.

Subhrakant Panda, President-Elect, FICCI and Managing Director, Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys Ltd, said that it is important to have the ability to learn, unlearn and relearn at every stage of life. “FICCI will be happy to collaborate with the government in working towards developing an effective implementation framework of the National Education Policy,” he added.

Shishir Jaipuria, Chairperson, FICCI ARISE and Chairman, Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Institutions, said that school education has played a pivotal role with respect to research-based policy advocacy. Praveen Raju, Co-Chair, FICCI ARISE and Founder, Suchitra Academy, also shared his perspective on the school education.