Modi's Teachers' Day 'diktat' a lesson in creating controversy

Asking students to listen to the PM's address seems to have stirred resentment, indignation and opposition

Teachers’ Day celebrations in the country have never got so mired in controversy as this. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to schoolchildren, slated for the afternoon of Friday, has not only led to a political furore but evoked mixed reactions among those it intends to address — children, their parents and the schools.

Schools have been clearly directed by the Union human resource development (HRD) ministry to ensure the presence of classes VI to XII from 3 pm to 4.45 pm on their premises to hear a speech by the prime minister, to be telecast on Doordarshan and educational channels, as well as webcast through YouTube.

Till now, Teachers’ Day was set aside for celebrations such as picnics or plays and for having students ‘running’ the school that day. All in all, mainly a ‘fun day’ for students.

The Congress party has described the new directive as “dictatorial”. Major parties in the south, led by DMK chief M Karunanidhi, have rapped it. After this barrage, HRD minister Smriti Irani said the ministry circular was “voluntary and not mandatory”.

Which isn’t factual. The circular issued by the Central Board of Secondary Education and the Delhi government’s Directorate of Education clearly says schools would be required to provide details of the number who have attended and the arrangements they’d made. Rural schools have been directed to arrange for generators to ensue that students can avail of the live telecast, which also has a Question and Answer interaction with a select group.

Gowri Ishwaran, chief executive officer of Global Education and Leadership Foundation and former  principal of Sanskriti school in this city, says: “On the face of it, it’s not a bad idea that the Prime Minister should share his thoughts with young people. But what is objectionable is making it mandatory for all schools to watch at the same time. Different schools have different timetables and the logistical arrangements for this on such a large scale are difficult.” And, warned, “It smacks of a dictatorial attitude and people resent this.”

One of the Delhi schools has reportedly warned its students that if they don’t turn up, they would be fined Rs 1,200 each. An exasperated parent, who did not want to be named, said, “Do your politics but don’t involve children. When you involve a child, you involve the entire family.” Adding, “Attendance has been made compulsory for children from classes V to XII. These are children aged 10 to 18, who will be voting within the next one to seven years. Is this an agenda to influence their future choices? One does wonder.”

Bal Bharati Public School, Noida, has issued a formal notice to children and parents stating that classes III-XII would be required to “note and learn” the key points of the prime minister’s address. They would be “evaluated on it in Summative I.” A question of two marks each would be asked in each of the five main papers.

Since education is a concurrent subject under the Constitution, orders from the central HRD ministry can be countered by state government directives. Thus, Assembly poll-going Haryana will have Narendra Modi’s thunder stolen by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The latter has promised to beam down an address of his own, and at a more convenient time, to schools.

“We will record the prime minister’s address and highlight the salient points the next day,” said a Gurgaon school official, who requested that it not be identified.

While Delhi-based institutions would be actively involved on Friday to ensure schools get the speech, in Mamata Banerjee’s West Bengal, the prime minister’s speech will hardly find an audience. Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said, “We do not have the adequate infrastructure in schools to make such arrangements. Also, we do not even the time to do this.”

Banerjee herself would be addressing a gathering of students and felicitate teachers at Netaji Indoor stadium in Kolkata. “This is a pre-declared programme on Teachers’ Day of the state government. We are going ahead with this,” Chatterjee added. The state government has issued no directive to schools regarding the telecast of Modi’s speech.

With the 10-day Ganapati festival in Maharashtra and associated holidays, most schools are on vacation. The principal of a Mumbai private school said they would make the speech available in digital format in their library once students are back from vacation. Even government schools say that they do not have a space large enough  for their students to watch it. With no television screens in corporation-run schools, one such principal said if the government made the necessary arrangements, they could think about it. “We have not made it mandatory because it is not logistically possible,” he said.

In Congress-ruled Karnataka, the government has neither opposed or supported the move. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, “It is up to the schools what they want to do. We will not interfere if they want their children to listen to the Prime Minister’s speech. Not many schools have infrastructure like TV to organise such programmes for their students.” The majority of schools in Bangalore have left it to the discretion of parents.

In sum, the diktat on behalf of the prime minister seems to have misfired and managed to ruffle quite a few feathers.