Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today attended the Teachers’ Day celebration at Srinagar, paid tribute to former President and great educationist Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishanan and felicitated the award-winning teachers from across the Kashmir division.
In his address, the Lt Governor extended his hearty greetings to the teaching community and recalled the immense contribution and dedicated service of teachers who are igniting young minds.
“Teacher is the biggest revolutionary and courageous person of this world. He breaks the barriers, old methods and gives a new shape, a new direction to the children, a new resolve and sparks new thinking in the minds of the children,” the Lt Governor said.
The Lt Governor highlighted the different roles a teacher plays simultaneously throughout his life.
“A teacher is an explorer who discovers hidden diamonds, gems and pearls in the form of students. As a gemologist, a teacher examines and shapes the diamonds carrying diverse talents. He is a jeweler and gives perfect shape and shine to precious gems,” the Lt Governor added.
The role of a teacher is to also bring creativity inside the classroom. A teacher should be courageous enough to break the stereotypes and let young minds develop their own creative, innovative ideas and critical thinking. Only the teacher has the ability to know the value of hidden talents, he said.
At the function, the Lt Governor impressed upon the teaching community to promote individuality and uniqueness of students and make teaching-learning process more interactive.
Goal of education is not to create a competitive mind but to create a creative and curious mind. We need a fine balance between competition and creativity. Test should not be based on competition but it should be based on originality, experiment, creative and scientific activity.
“I believe today we need teachers to instill creativity, curiosity, teamwork, leadership qualities and civilizational values of harmony, brotherhood and compassion in our children. We need to evolve new methods to create effective approaches to lifelong learning,” the Lt Governor said.
The Lt Governor reiterated the commitment of the UT Administration for upgradation of schools including manpower and infrastructure in a holistic manner. I assure you that funds will be provided for upgradation of 7000 such schools which lack basic facilities (6000 this year and 1000 during the next year), he said.
On this day, let us strengthen our resolve and ensure that every child, especially the girls, have access to quality education, the Lt Governor said.
Renowned educationist, Padma Shri Prof. JS Rajput; Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary; Alok Kumar, Principal Secretary, School & Higher Education, senior officers, Heads of Departments, large number of teachers and students were present.
