“India’s future depends on providing better education to its youth,” President Ram Nath Kovind said Thursday at the fifth annual convening of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Jammu. He said education is the biggest factor.
“The future of our country depends on good education from our young population. Institutes like IIM Jammu cherish our youth. These talented young people are going to build the India of the future. They are going to make people’s lives better and the country stronger,” the president said.
On the National Education Policy (NEP), he said: “We know that the National Education Policy aims to position India as a ‘knowledge center’ in today’s knowledge economy. It aims to equip our youth for the 21st century world while preserving our old values that remain relevant even today. For India to become a global center of knowledge, our learning institutions must be globally comparable.”
He noted with satisfaction that the number of Indian institutions in the world rankings is steadily increasing. The president added that many start-ups, helped by the convergence of technologies and opportunities, have become very successful and are described as the emerging mainstay of the Indian economy.
The mindset of being a job giver and not a job seeker among India’s youth is one of the key factors in our country having one of the best start-up ecosystems in the world, he added. The president noted that IIM Jammu, in conjunction with DICCI and CII, will set up a special diversity cell to help would-be entrepreneurs out of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
The president advised students to learn and relearn quickly throughout their lives. He said the role of rapid technological change will be disruptive. “The shelf life of technologies is getting shorter and shorter. That is why the shelf life of management and leadership styles is also getting shorter. To deal with such a scenario, they have to move from the mindset of ‘using the known’ to the approach of ‘exploring the unknown’. They have to go outside their comfort zone into the areas of uncertainty. They have to turn challenges into opportunities. They must be “pro-changers” yet sensitive to “no-changers” in order to convert them to advocates of change. They have to look to tomorrow while learning from yesterday,” he said.
He advised them to keep an open mind, an open heart, and a strong will. He said that a really good entrepreneur, good manager, or good business leader is one who believes in doing good by doing good. “Excellence and ethics go hand in hand.”
Read all the latest news, breaking news and IPL 2022 Live Updates here.
