Governor Balramji Das Tandon has appealed teachers to inculcate feeling of patriotism in children.
He said that education is the most precious wealth. It is way more valuable than the materialistic inheritance from parents.
Tandon said that teachers should make students develop healthy habits, vocabulary and etiquette in their class, but more than anything else; feeling of patriotism should be inculcated.
He was addressing the State-level Teachers Felicitation Programme organised by National Teachers Welfare Foundation at Rajbhavan here on Monday on the occasion of Teachers Day.
In the programme, 22 school teachers of the State were awarded State Teacher Award and four of these teachers were honoured with special awards in the memory of renowned litterateurs.
The Governor said in his address : “We climb stairs of life with the help of education.”
He gave examples from lives of Rabindranath Tagore and lok Manya Tilak and said that these great personas have also served as teachers to enlighten the path for the society.
“Teachers are the builders of nation and society and they should constantly strive for showing right direction to society. Parents give birth to a child but the teacher guides the child towards right path,” he said.
Chief Minister Raman Singh presided over the programme.
Singh in his address threw light on the importance of teachers in nation building.
He said that our nation has age-old tradition of respecting teachers.
“Chanakya who had dreamt of ‘Akhand Bharat’ was also a teacher and he was the one who had inspired and prepared a child from poor family — Chandragupta Maurya for realising his vision”, he said.
The Chief Minister said that the teachers who are striving to perform their duties well in Naxal-affected areas of the State with dedication are a source of inspiration. Both the Governor and Chief Minister also commemorated the contribution of former President late Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan.
Chief Minister Raman Singh also gave example of former President late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam while saying that great scientist Dr Kalam used to feel proud in being called as a ‘teacher’, even after reaching the highest post of the country.
He breathed his last while delivering a lecture to his students as a teacher, Singh said.
The Chief Minister lauded the teachers rendering services in remote areas.
He added that during State-wide campaigns such as ‘lok Suraaj’ and ‘Gram Suraaj’, when I get the opportunity to visit villages, I feel immensely happy to see people appreciating the dedication of teachers.
The Chief Minister praised the dedication of teachers working in Naxal-affected areas namely Bijapur, Dantewada, Sukma, Narayanpur, Kondagaon, Kanker, Jagdalpur, Manpur-Mohla and Balrampur.
He said that today, children from Naxal-affected areas of Bastar Division are availing education in Prayas schools and are cracking difficult competitive exams to take admission in prestigious institutions like IIT.
Part of the credit of this contribution goes to teachers as well, he said.
Singh said that government can provide resources to teachers, but the responsibility of bringing about change in the society with dedication and service is on the shoulders of teachers.
He added that Chhattisgarh is the only state that has highest expenditure of nearly 23% of the State's budget on education of new generation.
School Education Minister Kedar Kashyap also addressed the programme as special invitee on the occasion.
He announced the name of teachers selected for State Teachers Award 2016.