National Education Policy will bring country's new generation out of Macaulay mentality: Pradhan

The National Education Policy (NEP) will be the medium to implement Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to bring the country's new generation out of the Macaulay mentality, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Saturday (January 3, 2026).

The NEP, announced on July 29, 2020 proposes various reforms in school education as well as higher and technical education.

Speaking to PTI Videos during his visit here for a programme, Mr. Pradhan said the NEP, which is in its sixth year now, will herald a paradigm shift.

"Prime Minister Modi has said the country needs to come out of the Macaulay mentality. The NEP 2020 will be the medium to bring the new generation of the country out of the Macaulay mentality," he asserted.

"India is a country of the youth and it is the responsibility of the Education Department to prepare the youth and future generations with education in mother tongue, competency based studies and skill based studies," Mr. Pradhan added.

The Union Minister further pitched for holistic assessment of studies, entrepreneurship and innovation in education, adding that youth should not be just job seekers but also job creators.

The National Education Policy is working in that direction, he said.

Delivering the sixth Ramnath Goenka Lecture in New Delhi on November 17, PM Modi urged citizens to take a pledge to rid the nation from the mindset of slavery instilled by Thomas Macaulay.

"The crime committed by Macaulay against India's cultural and educational foundations will complete 200 years in 2035. I want to appeal to the entire country: over the next decade, we must resolve to free ourselves from the mindset of slavery that Macaulay imposed on India," Mr. Modi had said on the occasion.

Mr. Pradhan later visited Dr. Hedgewar Smruti Mandir in Reshimbagh in Nagpur and paid tribute at the memorial of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) founder KB.. Hedgewar.

The Union Minister also visited 'Deekshabhoomi', the memorial of Babasaheb Ambedkar, in Nagpur and paid his respects.