Governor Balramji Dass Tandon on Monday advised teachers that they should not only teach but also learn themselves to improve their skills from time to time.
Tandon appealed to the teachers to inculcate the spirit of patriotism in children along with good moral values. “Children not only learn bookish lessons from teachers, but they are also impacted by the behaviour, habit and lives of teachers. Hence, teachers should make sure that their persona becomes an inspiration for their students. Knowledge is the most precious gift given by teachers to their students, which cannot be stolen by anyone,” he said at the state-level Teachers Felicitation Programme 2014 organised at Raj Bhavan on Monday. A total of 26 teachers of Chhattisgarh were honoured by the Governor on the occasion.
The programme was presided over by Chief Minister Raman Singh. School Education, Tribal and Scheduled Caste Development Minister Kedar Kashyap was also present on the occasion as special guest. The programme was organised under the joint aegis of National Teachers’ Welfare Organisation’s Chhattisgarh Unit and State Government’s Directorate of Public Instructions.
In the programme held here, Governor honoured 19 teachers with shawl, shriphal and certificates. On the occasion, those seven teachers were also felicitated, who were recently honoured by President of India on Teachers Day. Tandon, who was the chief guest on the occasion said in his address that teachers have a crucial role to play in building character of students.
He said that teachers have an significant responsibility on their shoulders to inculcate moral values in future generation. “Although world has progressed a lot with technological inventions, gadgets such as internet, fax and mobile phone have turned the world into global village and all the information is just a click away. But the scientists who have invented these gadgets were also taught by teachers.”
The Governor said that undoubtedly, parents have immense contribution in the lives of children, and that is the reason why they deserve utmost respect. Parents give away all sorts of luxuries to their children. But property, valuables and luxuries can be taken away at some point of time or the other. But the precious gift of knowledge given by teachers to their students cannot be stolen ever.
He said that a child’s first education begins with his mother right from his infancy but the child develops the ability serve the society from school only. School is the actual foundation of a child’s education and life as a whole.
Tandon said that teachers should impart quality education to their students so as to make them competent enough to make a positive difference to the nation and the world as a whole. While presiding over the programme, Chief Minister Raman Singh said that teachers do guide and educate future generation; but nowadays teaching work has become much more challenging than before.
New modes of communication like internet, WhatsApp other than Radio and Television have made the latest information accessible to children, which are increasing their appetite and curiosity for information. In this era of modern technology, every student expects his teacher to answer all his queries.
“This is the reason why teachers need to stay updated every day so that they may answer their queries correctly,” he said. The Chief Minister said that State Government is committed to provide quality education to nearly 60 lakh children of Chhattisgarh.
“Teachers have a crucial role to play in fulfilling this commitment. The government can provide school buildings, hostel buildings and facilities but the enlightenment through knowledge is the responsibility of teachers”, he said. On the occasion, Singh also remembered the contribution of great teacher, philosopher and former President of the country Dr S Radhakrishnan. The Chief Minister said that after parents, teachers have the most important role to play in the lives of children.
He said that the State Government has observed this year as the education quality improvement year and has decided to conduct assessment of students three-monthly, half-yearly and annually. The report card of the assessment result would be sent to parents, to make them aware of the child’s progress and performance in class. For this, government has finalized monthly course for every subject.
Singh said that our teachers are making invaluable contribution for future generation in remote areas like Balrampur-Ramanujganj, Bijapur and Dantewada. In such areas, when children of labourer families clear engineering and medical education competitive exams and get selected for reputed institutions like IIT and NIT, the major part of the credit goes to teachers only.
School Education and Tribal Caste Development Minister Kedar Kashyap said in his address that the teachers, who have been felicitated today, are the ones who have created their unique identity through their different teaching style. He suggested the teachers to adopt multimedia technology for teaching students.