VP Venkaiah Naidu makes clarion call for 100% literacy in India

In a major step to make India 100% literate in the near future, Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu called for collective efforts by all stakeholders on Friday. Speaking at the centenary celebrations of National College at Tiruchirappalli he called for pacing literacy campaigns.  

The Vice President further expressed disappointment over the fact that India still has 18-20% illiterate population even after 70 years of independence. As per an official press release, VP Naidu also called for improving the campaigns that have an impact on adult literacy.  

VP Naidu on university 

Talking about the top 300 global list of institutions, VP Naidu expressed his concerns and reiterated that none of the premier Indian Universities found a place in the list. He further added that India houses premier universities like IISc, IIT, IIM. However, only 56 institutions were featured in the 500 universities that made it to the 'Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020'. 

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In his address at the ceremony, he pointed out that India was once known as the `Vishwaguru' or the education capital of the world. VP Naidu further urged the universities across India to regain their past glory. He also called for improving investment in the educational sector.  

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Education sector to boost the economy 

VP Naidu said that the investment in the education sector could be enhanced from the current 4.6% to at least 6% of GDP as mandated by the NITI Aayog. Apart from this, the Vice President added that education is a significant key to pacing up the development in the country and ensure social justice with equal opportunities.  

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Urging the big businesses to come forward and invest in the education sector, he said, “The future of India's education lies in effective and efficient models of public-private partnerships.” 

Venkaiah Naidu further spoke about shifting from the age-old rote learning method to, “conceptual and application-oriented learning”. He spoke about boosting innovation, entrepreneurship, research and skill development based on India's demographic dividend. Lastly, he also made a clarion call on making India a manufacturing hub and human resources capital of the world. 

(With ANI Inputs, Image Source: ANI)

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