Chandigarh: Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini on Sunday said the state was building a modern education ecosystem with science, computer, and robotics laboratories; technology-enabled classrooms; and innovation hubs to equip students with skills required in the 21st century.Addressing the inauguration of new facilities at O P Jindal Modern School in Hisar, Saini said the new infrastructure would provide students greater opportunities for experimentation, research and innovation. He inaugurated the ‘Utkarsh’ administrative block, ‘Uday’ SEN wing, ‘Udgam’ swimming pool and ‘Utsav’ auditorium.The facilities were inaugurated as part of programmes marking the 96th birth anniversary of late O P Jindal, whom Saini described as an eminent industrialist, philanthropist and nation-builder.Saini said the school’s Innovation Hub would provide children a platform to turn their ideas into models and projects while developing creative thinking, teamwork, leadership and problem-solving skills.“The govt’s endeavour is to ensure that students become not job seekers but job creators,” Saini said, adding that the New Education Policy would help create a generation that is “character-oriented, employable and skilled” and contribute to the vision of a Viksit Bharat-Viksit Haryana.Haryana AI MissionSaini said over 10,000 young people had so far taken up start-ups and benefited from the ecosystem. The state has also launched the Haryana AI Mission, under which AI hubs will be established in Gurugram and Panchkula.The govt, he said, was moving towards providing “world-class education” through smart classrooms, tablets, digital boards, ICT labs and skill-based learning. Five lakh tablets have been provided to Class 10-12 students, around 40,000 classrooms have digital boards, and 1,201 ICT labs have been established.The number of Govt Model Sanskriti Senior Secondary Schools has risen from 13 in 2014 to 218, while 1,420 Govt Model Sanskriti Primary Schools have been established in the past 11-and-a-half years.On broader development, Saini said Haryana players had won seven of India’s 13 gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, including five by women athletes from the state. He also highlighted govt initiatives in healthcare and housing, saying 1.6 lakh families had been provided houses over the past 12 years.Cabinet meeting on Aug 13The Haryana cabinet will meet under Saini’s chairmanship at 3pm on Aug 13 at the Haryana Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh. Chief secretary Anurag Rastogi issued the notice for the meeting.
