New Delhi, Jul 29 (PTI) As the new National Education Policy (NEP) completed one year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said it is one of the major factors in the grand exercise of nation-building and assures the youth that the country supports their aspirations.

Modi said in the last one year, teachers, principals and policymakers of the country have worked very hard in implementing the National Education Policy on the ground.

Addressing a programme on the completion of one year of the NEP, the prime minister said what new heights “we will achieve in the future will depend on what kind of education we are giving to our youth at present”.

“India’s new National Education Policy is one of the major factors in the ‘mahayagna’ (great exercise) of nation-building,” Modi said.

The new NEP assures the youth that the country is now completely with them and with their aspirations, he said.

Modi said the Artificial Intelligence (AI) programme which has just been launched will make the youth future-oriented and open the way for an AI-driven economy.

Highlighting that the NEP also gives importance to mother tongue and local languages, Modi said he was happy that 14 engineering colleges in eight states are going to start studies in five Indian languages — Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Bangla.

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as well as some chief ministers also participated in the event.

The NEP, which was approved by the Union Cabinet last year at a meeting presided by Prime Minister Modi, replaced the National Policy on Education framed in 1986. It is aimed at paving the way for transformational reforms in school and higher education systems to make India a global knowledge superpower.