Kevadia (Gujarat): Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday reiterated the role of central universities in catalysing the research and innovation landscape, capacity building of faculties and improving institutional governance. 

During the Vice Chancellors Conference of Central Universities, Pradhan appreciated the vision and drive of VCs to support research talent and transform universities as hotspots of ideas, research, innovation and entrepreneurship.

He also posted a message on X stating that he attended insightful presentations on the role of central universities in catalysing research and innovation.

Union Minister of State for Education, Sukanta Majumdar, said that Sardar Patel’s vision forms the bedrock of our National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 - a visionary and futuristic reform aimed at making Indian education globally competitive while being rooted in Indian values.

Addressing senior officials from the Ministry of Education and Vice Chancellors of Central Universities, he said women’s participation in higher education has witnessed significant growth over the past decade, with female enrolment rising from 1.57 crore in 2014-15 to 2.07 crore in 2021-22, marking a 32 per cent increase.

Highlighting the achievements of NEP 2020, Majumdar stated that the integration of technology in education has been accelerated through platforms like Swayam. Over 295 universities allowed up to 40 per cent of academic credits through Swayam courses.

The platform was now issuing nearly 9 lakh certificates annually, he said.

He said NEP 2020 promoted multilingualism as JEE, NEET, and CUET were being conducted in 13 regional languages.

Due to the NEP 2020 policy initiatives, India made its best-ever performance in the QS World University Rankings 2026: A total of 54 Indian institutions were ranked, which was a five-fold increase since 2015, he said.

The Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) - a cornerstone of student-centric learning - now has over 2.75 crore students registered and includes 1,667 higher education institutions, many of which are Central Universities, he said.

Majumdar said the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured that the National Education Policy 2020 was not just a reform but a renaissance in Indian education, empowering every learner to think globally while staying rooted in India’s civilizational ethos.

(IANS)