New Delhi: Youth in the country represent
the powerhouse of the global economy but the quality of
education continues to remain a matter of "concern", HRD
Minister Kapil Sibal has said.
"Western nations and east Asia reaped the benefits of the
demographic dividend, now the fruits of this dividend are
seeded in India, the Middle East and Africa. The youth here
represent the powerhouse of the global economy," a press
release here on Sunday quoted him as saying in the recent 36th
session of the General Conference of UNESCO at Paris.
He, however, said, "The quality of education continues to
remain a matter of concern."
Emphasising on the need to empower youths, Sibal said,
"We will fail our future generations if we do not create the
necessary environment for their self-realisation...So let us
pledge to empower our young. Let us enrich them with the tools
needed to protect their future."
He said the Indian government has taken the lead to
develop an access device Aakash - which aims to provide a
medium for every child to access the digital world and to
learn from the vast repositories of knowledge contained
therein.
"Aakash presently costs less than USD 50 and our
endeavour is to further reduce its cost to less than USD 35.
We are going to provide Aakash to every student in higher
education and gradually to every child in secondary education.
We dedicate this device to the children of the world. We will
equip our children with the tools to face the challenges of
the 21st century," Sibal said.
PTI
