Formulation of the new National Education Policy (NEP) is a live example of cooperative federalism to achieve a common goal of making India a global hub of knowledge, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Tuesday.

Pradhan was addressing the launch of a booklet detailing initiatives taken in one year since the the roll out of the NEP.

“NEP is a guiding philosophy to transform the hopes and aspirations of millions of youth to reality and making India self-reliant. Formulation of NEP is also a live example of cooperative federalism to achieve a common goal of making India a global hub of knowledge. When we look back at the progress of NEP, we get more confident about the future of our students,” he said.

“Education is not merely a competition to acquire degrees, but is a transformative tool to leverage knowledge for character building and eventually nation building. The government is working to facilitate upgradation of infrastructure in schools, such as ensuring that internet reaches village schools across the country,” he added.

Besides the booklet of achievements, the minister also launched initiatives such as NIPUN Bharat FLN tools and resources on DIKSHA; Virtual School of NIOS; alternate academic calendar of NCERT and released “Priya”, an accessibility booklet developed by the NCERT and the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.

“Priya -The Accessibility Warrior”, which is the outcome of collaborative efforts of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and Department of School Education and Literacy.

It provides glimpses into the world of a girl named Priya who met with an accident and could not walk, due to a plastered leg. The story depicts how she manages to participate in all activities at school, and in the process learns the importance of accessibility. Priya, therefore, takes the pledge of being an accessibility warrior. The comic book is also available with Indian Sign Language (ISL) explanatory videos.

The minister, while launching the Virtual School of National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), said that this school is a new model of learning and is an example of how leveraging technology and innovation can facilitate greater inclusion in education. The school is first-of-its-kind initiative in the country which will provide advanced digital learning platforms through Virtual Live Classrooms and Virtual Labs.

Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Virendra Kumar said that accessibility opens doorways to opportunity and growth, thus, reinstating the importance of creating an accessible environment for everyone. He further said that awareness and a sensitised community are the essential fuels driving any revolutionary change.