DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said that students are the future of the nation and should play an active role in fulfilling the Prime Minister's vision of building a developed India by staying away from drugs. The Chief Minister was speaking as the chief guest at the Medhavi Chhatra Samman Samaroh in Panchkula today to felicitate meritorious students of classes 10 and 12 at both state and district levels.

On this occasion, the Chief Minister felicitated 275 students who had excelled in various streams at the state and district levels and encouraged them to continue striving for excellence.

He said that the Haryana Government is continuously working to bring structural reforms in the field of education. In the past ten and a half years, significant progress has been made not only in school education but also in higher education.

He said that under the able leadership of Prime Minister Sh Narendra Modi, Haryana's double-engine government has been working towards establishing medical colleges in every district to ensure better healthcare facilities and address the shortage of doctors in the state. Medical colleges have already been established in 15 districts, and work is underway in the remaining districts.

With the aim of promoting higher education among girls, the Haryana Government has set up degree colleges within a 20-kilometre radius across the state so that girls do not have to travel far for their studies, he added.

He said that Haryana Government has decided to give special recognition to meritorious students. He said that students belonging to Scheduled Castes who score more than 90 percent marks in Class 12 will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 1,11,000.

Describing children as future of the nation, he said that it is essential to ensure their holistic development through both education and values, as only then will they be equipped to face life's challenges with courage. He emphasized that bookish knowledge alone is not sufficient for a successful life; children must also receive moral and spiritual education, as education without moral values is meaningless.

The state government is committed to nurturing a future generation that is educated, ethical, healthy, and capable. To achieve this, special focus is being placed on enhancing the quality of education from the primary to higher levels and aligning the curriculum with employment-oriented goals.

Nayab Singh Saini said that over the past ten and a half years, numerous steps have been taken to bring about change and progress in the field of education. Several welfare schemes have been launched for students, with a strong focus on enhancing infrastructural facilities in schools.

Ensuring quality education remains one of our top priorities. To achieve this, schools are adopting innovative methods such as playful teaching, project-based learning, continuous evaluation, and the integration of new technologies.

The Chief Minister highlighted that, under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sh Narendra Modi, a new National Education Policy has been formulated to propel 21st-century India to new heights in knowledge and scientific advancement. Although the nationwide timeline for its implementation is till 2040, we have set an ambitious goal to fully implement the policy in Haryana by 2025.

A key objective of the policy is to introduce vocational and skill-based education from Class VI onwards. In Haryana, steps have already been taken in this direction through the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF), which has been implemented in 1001 schools to date, enabling students to acquire diverse skills from an early age.

(editor@dailyworld.in)