Software icon NR Narayana Murthy has praised the National Education Policy (NEP) introduced by the Narendra Modi government. Murthy hailed the initiative for its potential to create a culture of innovation and invention within India's educational scenery.
“I congratulate the Modi government for thinking of this National Education Policy. It's an excellent idea, in the right step. Our job is to sit down with such people, provide data and facts to them, and very gently and courteously sell them the value of NEP," Murthy explained in an interview with ET.
He expressed that the secret to achieving this shift involves overhauling primary and secondary education. That's not all, he made thought-provoking claims about how this could lead to the reduction of unemployment in the country.
Moreover, Murthy proposed a strategy to improve national education results by leveraging the expertise of retired teachers. These mentors would be sought from developed nations and India itself. They would be instrumental in fostering a pro-inventive and innovative mindset among young Indians eager to shape the country's future.
"If we train our teachers with the help of highly accomplished retired teachers at $20 billion for 20 years, it would be a very important contribution from our governments to create a future generation,” Murthy suggested.
When probed about potential skepticism toward the adoption of NEP, Murthy demonstrated unwavering support for the initiative. He was also confident that, despite their initial doubts, even the skeptics would eventually recognize its value.
Furthermore, he pitched that India annually budget $1 billion to train teachers in strategic areas such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) over the next 20 years.
"We need to show much respect and pay better salaries to our teachers and researchers. We need to provide better facilities for our researchers. If you think education is expensive, try ignorance," Murthy quoted former Harvard University President Derek Bok.
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