Special Service and Features
Opening Remarks by H.E Dr. L. Murugan, Union Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting
Chair of the G20 Education Working Group, Shri Sanjay Murthy, Indonesian Co-chair Mr Iwan Syahril and Brazilian Co-Chair Ms Natalia Cabral de Rego Barros, Distinguished delegates from the G20 and invited countries, Representatives of UNESCO, UNICEF, and the OECD, Ladies and Gentlemen!
On behalf of the Government of India, I would like to extend a warm welcome to you for the first meeting of the G20 Education Working Group. Chennai is a city with a rich history and a vibrant cultural and literary heritage. It is also one of the most important centres of learning and innovation in the country today, and therefore, a perfect setting for this working group.
The G20 Education Working Group provides member countries an opportunity to underline common priorities, reiterate common commitments, and evolve common action for improving the reach, quality and outcomes of education. As envisioned by our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the aim of India’s G20 Presidency is to strive for just and equitable growth for all, in a sustainable, holistic, responsible, and inclusive manner. This objective is enunciated by our theme of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’, and the Indian values of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.
The aim of the Education Working Group under Indian presidency is therefore to work collectively and evolve solutions that will help all countries and societies to strengthen their education systems and attain the targets under the UN Sustainable Development Goal. Education is the key driver for development, and a critical enabler for people’s empowerment. It needs to keep pace with the changes that are driving the world today. In recent years we have seen rapid transformation in the way people live, work and interact with each other. In such times we need education systems that can equip all our young people, especially the more vulnerable ones, with the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes required in the 21st century so that they can live productive and responsible lives.
Every country in the world has evolved its own strategies for fulfilling this need. India launched its National Education Policy in 2020, under which many initiatives have been rolled out for making education more inclusive, accessible, affordable relevant to emerging needs and of high quality. Some of these include addressing issues of early childhood care and education, preventing school dropout, introducing innovative pedagogies, focus on teachers training, making higher education multi- disciplinary and flexible, with focus on quality research, mainstreaming skill education, providing opportunities for lifelong learning, extensive use of technology to improve the teaching learning process etc.
I am sure all G20 member countries have equally rich initiatives and enlightening experiences to share with each other. Such sharing will enrich all member countries to define future strategies for betterment of education, and strengthen our hands for collective action in this regard. India attaches great importance to collaboration between G20 members in education and other fields. I take this opportunity to reiterate our commitment in this regard. We have been given an opportunity to outline our priorities and draw the roadmap for a common robust future. Let us all work together to build this common future, keeping education as the focal point for addressing our common challenges. Distinguished delegates, I once again welcome you and wish you a pleasant stay in Chennai. I look forward to your valuable ideas and proposed initiatives to ensure quality education for all.
Thank You!