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“A true teacher can never retire, a 90-year-old teacher in a village can still be seen teaching his grandchild even if the syllabus has changed,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.
“While most of us were not there in the lifetime of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, but we had the fortune of learning from Late Dr A PJ Abdul Kalam when he was alive. Kalam wanted to be remembered as a teacher. The day after his term as President of India ended, he went to teach children in Chennai. He was interacting with students even in his last moments. That was his commitment towards education,” Modi said.
He was addressing the school children on the eve of Teachers’ Day. The event saw the participation of 800 students and 60 teachers from the schools of Delhi. Children, who have excelled in various activities in school, also tuned in via video conferencing mode from nine different locations.
“I interact with students on Teachers’ Day because a student is a reflection of the teacher,” Modi said in his address. Stating the importance of guru (teacher), he said while a mother gives birth to a child, a teacher gives him/her life.
On a question from a student on the lack of qualified teachers in the country, Modi said, “There are plenty of people who have excelled in their respective fields. They should come forward to commit at least one hour a week to train and teach children.”
Sending a message to lakhs of engineering aspirants, the Prime Minister said, “I have asked my officials to explore how students can replace character certificate with aptitude certificate… I am working to bring in a change in practices that schools follow.”
The Prime Minister also released a commemorative coin of Rs 125 denomination and a circulation coin of Rs 10 denomination in the honour of educationist, teacher and philosopher Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. He also launched the website for Kala Utsav, an initiative of the Ministry of Human Resource Development to promote art in education by nurturing and showcasing the artistic talent of school students at the secondary stage in visual arts, music, dance and theatre.
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