Education is priority of priorities for government: President

New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said education was the "priority of priorities" for the government.

In his address to the joint session of both houses of Parliament, he said, "Education is the priority of priorities for my government. 'Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat' has been launched to improve foundational learning outcomes. An initiative to map the entire country on a GIS platform to identify habitations without schools has been taken."

Highlighting the government's initiatives, Mukherjee added that the 'Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya National Mission on Teachers and Teacher Training' was launched to empower and increase the capacity of teachers.

He also said that the 'Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan' was announced to "imbibe scientific temper among students."

"To ensure access to education in the remotest areas, 'Ishan Vikas' and 'Ishan Uday' schemes have been started with focus on students of north-eastern regions," the president said.

He said that the government had formulated the 'National Sports Talent Search Scheme' for encouraging sporting talent amongst children in the age group of eight to 12 years through the National Sports Development Fund and Target Olympic Podium.