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Treat exams like festivals, PM Modi enthuses students at Pariksha Pe Charcha

Modi spoke at length about the New Education Policy (NEP). He said many people – 'teachers, students, intellectuals' — brainstormed for six to seven years to draft the policy.

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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi told students and teachers on Friday to harness the merits of both online and offline modes of teaching.

He was speaking at ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ — an annual event during which the prime minister addresses students, teachers and parents in India and abroad.
Modi said: “Use online education as a means to learn and offline as a means to implement that learning.”

The prime minister said this in response to questions asked by three students from around the country and a teacher regarding the challenges online education posed.

Discussing the merits of both online and offline classes, Modi said: “Online is for seeking, offline for making something out of yourself.”
Modi stressed how students need to navigate around stress. “Why the fear? You have sat for so many exams, and you are at the end of that phase. After crossing the ocean, do not be fearful when the shore is near. You are exam-proof,” Modi told final-year students.

He said students should not worry about not being able to finish the syllabus. “Have faith in what you have covered,” Modi said.

The prime minister also asked students not to overthink, not to panic as “exams prepare us for the challenges ahead”. “Enjoy exams like a festival,” Modi said while extending his greetings to all for the festivities in April.

But added: “The medium is not the issue, the brain is. If the brain is willing to learn, the mode does not matter.”


Also read: 8 semesters, 160 credit-hours: What Four-Year Undergraduate Programme approved by UGC looks like


Mention of NEP but not CUET 

Modi spoke at length about the New Education Policy (NEP). He said many people – “teachers, students, intellectuals” — brainstormed for six to seven years to draft the policy.

“Priority has been given to sports as it builds team spirit and helps in the overall development of a student. Skill has been made part of the curriculum as well” he said.

He also blamed the previous governments for not updating education policies. He said, “We cannot build the 21st Century with policies of the 20th Century. The previous government did not pay attention to such an important necessity and our children faced a major drawback due to this. But we have rectified that mistake with the NEP.”

When a student from Cambridge School, Noida, asked about the freshly-introduced entrance exams (CUET) for college admissions, the Prime Minister advised him to study the curriculum in entirety. “Then all exams would appear to be the same,” he said. The CUET has made class 12 board marks redundant for central universities.

He said, “The problem is that you are viewing your class 12 exams and your college entrance tests as two separate exams. They are not. Study your entire syllabus with concentration and then the nature of your exam will stop being a hurdle.”

However, the Prime Minister did not mention the renewed format of entrance exams for admission into central and some deemed universities in the country.

Student reactions

Students, who were present at the event, came out of the meet smiling and feeling charged. Youngster Nitish Rai said, “I had always heard that PM Modi is a great orator and I saw him in action today. He made us feel so comfortable and at ease about our exams that we are now looking forward to appearing for them.”

Mohit Jadav, a student of Mount Abu School in Rohini, Delhi said he was now going to see his exam as a celebration just like ‘Modiji’ told him to. He said, “I feel confident and exams don’t seem like such a big hurdle anymore. I am going to see it as a festival and go for them with enthusiasm.”

Harsh from Kendriya Vidyalaya presented his project made under the aegis of the Atal Tinkering labs set up across government schools. He said he was taken up by the glow on the prime minister’s face. The class 12 student said, “I was very nervous when he came to see my project but once he put his hand on my back I felt confident. In that moment I knew my project was a success. The prime minister of the country knows about it!”


Also read: 40% in Class 12, then common test with choice of 17 domain subjects — new DU entrance criteria


 

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