Societal mindset towards education must change: VP Naidu

On the occasion of Teacher's Day on Wednesday, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu conferred the National Teachers' Awards in the presence of Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar in the national capital.

Lauding the teachers who received accolades at the event, Naidu said "It is because of teachers like you that our system of education is moving steadily towards greater heights of excellence. The government has not only recognised you as individuals but has also showcased what can be actually achieved with competence, commitment, and collaboration. The countries of the world had recognized India as a world teacher or Vishwa Guru. In many ways, this stream of intellectual pursuits and knowledge creation has continued over the last two millennia."

However, Naidu acknowledged that there are "persistent challenges in providing good quality education for all children, youth and adults."

"The societal mindset and attitude must change. We have to create an ethos that values learning, an ethos that gives respect to teachers. The teachers must make their instructions learner-friendly. This essentially implies that if we have to universalise quality education the teachers must individualise learning. They must know each child well and respond to the learning needs," the Vice President said.

"The teachers should make students learn through activities. This is the basic principle which has been detailed by educationists like Gurudev Tagore, Shri Aurobindo and Mahatma Gandhiji. Gandhiji had evolved a comprehensive, integrated vision of education called 'Nayee Taaleem' which relied on learning by doing. We had institutions of learning that earned us the honour of being the world's guru. We have a long illustrious list of gurus and eminent pacesetters," he added.

Meanwhile, Prakash Javadekar called the award show a great initiative. "Total 150 names were submitted online, of which 45 teachers have been selected for felicitation today on the basis of good performance. It's a great initiative being welcomed by everyone," he said.

In India, September 5 is celebrated as Teacher's day in honour of India's second President and revered teacher Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.