It is said that the 21st century is going to be a “Knowledge Century.” History suggests that whenever there has been a focus of knowledge, India has always stood on top. Our country is a repository of knowledge from very old times- even before the Oxfords and Cambridges of the world came into being, we had our own Nalanda and Taxila as flourishing centres of learning!
If we are to scale new heights of development and take our nation to its predestined mantle of the Jagad Guru (World Leader), robust progress in our education sector will play a major role. Education is the backbone to a nation’s progress. From the time a child enters primary school till he completes graduation and beyond, it is essential to provide top quality education facilities to our youth.
Education is as much about opportunity as it is about learning and under the farsighted leadership of Shri Narendra Modi, Gujarat has opened several doors of opportunity for the youth by setting up specialized universities which demonstrate path breaking innovation in the education sector. A lot of students have gained from these innovations in the last decade.
Forensic Sciences University
Gujarat is home to the only university in the world dedicated to forensic and investigative sciences. The aim of this university is to create skilled manpower in a field that is gaining popularity all over the world. The University offers Masters and Diploma programmes.
Pandit Deen Dayal Petroleum University
Named after the respected Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay, this is a world-class university for energy education and research with a special focus on the oil and gas sector. Over the last few years the university has expanded its scope to address the need for trained human resources in engineering, management and humanities.
PDP University offers a variety of courses and has also tied up with numerous foreign universities.
Raksha Shakti University
Who would have imagined that there would be a day when the nation would have its first ever university that is determined to provide our youth with specialized education in the field of police sciences and internal security! This is what the Raksha Shakti University has been doing since its inception in 2009.
The university’s website says that the institute wishes to emerge as a,
“centre of excellence
with social commitment, integrating modern, scientific and technological knowledge and skills in police and security administration, which is vital for maintenance of law and order and ensuring peace and harmony in society.”
Indian Institute of Teacher Education
A good teacher can leave a lasting impression on the mind of the pupil and inspire him or her to do wonders in future. That is why the Gujarat Government has come up with the Indian Institute of Teacher Education, a university to create and train the teachers of tomorrow.
Children’s University
This is a unique university that engages in working towards overall development of a child through various scientific programmes covering all areas of child development. It is to create builders of our future. This is an initiative that is very close to Shri Modi.
Strengthening Gyan Shakti for a Developed Gujarat
When Shri Narendra Modi took office in 2001, Gujarat had only 11 universities. Today that number stands at 41! Changes in the state’s education system have come from the primary till the university level.
Due to the Kanya Kelavani Abhiyan and Shala Praveshotsav, school enrollment has scaled an all time high of 100% and the drop out ratio has fallen from 20.5% in 2000-2001 to 2% a decade later. Every summer, in the scorching heat Shri Modi, his cabinet colleagues and senior Government officials go to the villages and ask parents to send their children to school. Infact, Shri Modi has said that even more memorable than the day he took oath as Chief Minister is when he takes a small child to school!
To give you another example, Gujarat’s preceding Governments used the Tribal communities as a vote bank but did nothing to fulfill their aspirations. The Tribal stretch from Umargam to Ambaji had no facilities for their children to study sciences at the Class XII level. Under Shri Modi this has changed and relevant facilities for tribal students to study science have come up in Tribal areas. Today, our Tribal brothers and sisters can dream of becoming doctors, engineers and pilots, something that was not even remotely possible a decade ago!
These are just some examples of how Shri Modi is tirelessly revolutionizing Gujarat’s education sector and creating a system that will produce individuals who will go out and make a positive difference in the lives of others.
REFERENCES CITED
10 must-reads from the convocation speeches of Shri Narendra Modi
Innovation in Education : Gujarat’s Specialized Universities
And the websites of the respective specialized universities featured.
