Pralhad Joshi highlights innovation under NEP 2020, cites Atal Tinkering Labs and student initiatives

Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday said the National Education Policy NEP 2020 places critical thinking creativity experiential learning and problemsolving at the centre of education while highlighting initiatives aimed at encouraging innovation among students from an early ageSpeaking at the Seva First Innovation Challenge at the Indian Institute of Science IISc Bengaluru Joshi said the objective of the education policy was not merely to prepare students for jobs but also to encourage them to think critically experiment innovate and find solutions to realworld problemsJoshi alleges Karnataka moved away from NEPReferring to Karnataka Joshi alleged that the state government had discontinued the implementation of NEP 2020 Karnataka had earlier initiated the implementation of the policy but the Congress government subsequently decided to move away from it and work towards a State Education Policy to suit regional realitiesOver 10000 Atal Tinkering LabsJoshi said more than 10000 Atal Tinkering Labs were currently engaging over 11 crore students across the country Students working through these labs had already created more than 16 lakh innovation projects he saidRecalling his visits to schools with Atal Tinkering Labs Joshi said some schools had kept the laboratories locked because teachers feared students would damage the equipmentHe said students should be allowed to use the facilities and experiment without fear of damaging the equipment as the objective was to encourage young minds to develop their thinking and criticalthinking abilitiesThe minister said the government had announced 50000 additional Atal Tinkering Labs in schools over the next five years In higher education more than 17300 Institution Innovation Councils have also been established he saidJoshi cites innovations from educational institutionsJoshi cited several innovations emerging from educational institutions including Homosap a robotic septic tank cleaner developed by IIT Madras and an Electrolarynx designed to provide a voice to people who have lost their ability to speakHe also referred to an induction stove developed by NIT Warangal for copper and aluminium utensils saying such innovations though they may appear small could address several daytoday problems faced by peopleWe should work we should innovate we should provide solutions not only for India but for the world also Innovate in India Make in India not only for India for the world also Joshi saidFocus on frontier technologiesJoshi said more than 65 per cent of Indias population was below the age of 35 and described the countrys young population as an opportunity to drive innovation and developmentHe also highlighted efforts to build capacity in frontier technologies saying four Centres of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence had been established in healthcare sustainable cities agriculture and education with a total outlay of Rs 1490 croreHe said the Smart India Hackathon had witnessed participation from more than 18 lakh students who had worked on nearly 3158 realworld problem statements submitted by government departments industry and public institutionsIndian deeptech startups showcased abroadReferring to the Bharat Innovates event held in Nice France Joshi said India had showcased 120 deeptech startups emerging from higher education institutionsHe said the French Head of State who had initially allotted 20 minutes to visit the innovation showcase spent more than an hour interacting with the participants after seeing the innovationsJoshi said India had subsequently received more than 20 requests to organise similar showcases in countries including Canada and other nations attributing the interest to growing confidence in Indian young minds and the countrys policy stabilityFocus on Viksit Bharat 2047Joshi said the goal of becoming Viksit Bharat by 2047 was primarily for todays young generation who would be the beneficiaries of Indias development in the coming decadesHe also referred to Indias progress in telecommunications saying 5G technology had been developed in India and 6G technology would also be developed using Indian technologyHe said smartphones manufactured in India were currently designed outside the country but in the coming years the aim would be to have phones designed and manufactured in India while also being sold in domestic and international marketsWith IANS inputs