India's youth moving beyond conventional courses towards Earth Sciences and Space Technology: Jitendra Singh

New Delhi, Sep 7 (IANS) Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Sunday said that India’s young generation is now moving beyond conventional courses and exploring cutting-edge fields such as Earth Sciences, Biotechnology, Space Technology, and start-up-led self-employment.

He noted that this shift has been made possible by the National Education Policy (NEP-2020), which has freed students from rigid subject streams and encouraged them to explore diverse disciplines.

"The National Education Policy (NEP-2020) has unleashed the creative potential of young minds by freeing them from the limitations of rigid subject streams and enabling them to explore diverse disciplines," Dr Singh said.

"This is encouraging a paradigm shift from conventional courses towards cutting-edge fields such as Earth Sciences, Biotechnology, Space Technology, and start-up-led self-employment," he added.

The Minister was speaking at a felicitation ceremony for the Indian student team that performed exceptionally at the 18th International Earth Science Olympiad (IESO-2025) held in Jining, China, from August 8-16.

Team India secured seven medals -- including one Gold, four Silver and two Bronze -- along with a 3rd Prize in the International Geoscience Youth Movement Reporter category.

The winners included students from Punjab, Rajasthan and Delhi, who were guided by mentors Prof. Devesh Walia and Prof. Hema Achyuthan, with Dr Jagvir Singh as observer.

The Union Minister praised their achievements, saying that their success reflects the new aspirational spirit of India’s youth, especially those from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, inspired by the startup revolution of the last decade.

He urged students to make use of government initiatives like Vigyan Jyoti, scholarships, fellowships and research grants to scale up their ideas and contribute to society.

He also encouraged them not to restrict themselves to winning competitions but to apply their innovations to real-life problems for the larger good.

The Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr M. Ravichandran, explained that India selects its IESO team through the Indian National Earth Science Olympiad, held across 300 centres every year.

Out of nearly 30 shortlisted students, four are chosen to represent the country at the international level.

He highlighted that India’s performance at IESO has been steadily improving in recent years.

The International Earth Science Olympiad, started in 2003, brings together school students from across the world to test their knowledge in Earth Sciences.

India has been participating since 2007 and even hosted the 10th edition in Mysore in 2013.

--IANS

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