Education – A Necessary Tool for National Progress and Social Change, says President Pranab Mukherjee.

.   The President has said there should not be any confrontation between the environment considerations and development requirements. Inaugurating the National Day Education celebration and Jawaharlal Nehru National Science, Mathematics and Environment Exhibition (JNNSMEE) 2013, at Gangtok, Sikkim today, the President Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that it is high time that we redefine the concept of development in a wider prospective and try to find innovative ways on scientific knowledge and mathematical understanding to tackle them.

   Paying rich tribute to the first Education Minister of the country, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the President described him as a great visionary, freedom fighter, scholar and eminent educationist. He said it was Maulana Azad who had woven the fabric of a secular, liberal, modern and universal education system. Calling for promotion of innovation, he said it will be the determining factor of growth in the future. In a world marked by resource constraints growth will increasingly depend on technology upgradation. It is the innovation in Science and Technology which can lead to development of new products and processes which could act as a catalyst for growth. Describing education as a necessary tool for national progress, human empowerment and social change the President said the changes made in the education system including Right to education, implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abiyaan, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abiyaan (RMSA) to strengthen the seconadry school system in the country and now launching of the Rashtriya Uttachar Shiksha Abiyaan (RUSA) will have far reaching positive implications.

   Speaking on the occasion, MoS HRD Dr. Shashi Tharoor also paid tribute to Maulana Azad. He said that the modern secular education in the post independent India is a product of his initiative and vision.

   The Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling said that the state has made a rapid stride in the field of education. The literacy rate in the state has jumped from 56% in 1984 to 82% till last year. Efforts are being made by the state government to up lift the standard in higher education and it also proposes to provide best possible facilities in the higher education sector.

The National Education Day is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Maulana Azad.

PIB