By Our Correspondent
ANGUL/BHUBANESWAR: If the youth are the engine for building a developed Odisha and a developed India, then the teaching community is their true guide. The dignified life of teachers is the real foundation stone of nation building, for whose development our government is committed, said Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Addressing the annual state conference of the All India Teachers’ Federation (School Education), Odisha region at Angul on Sunday, Shri Pradhan said that the All India Teachers’ Federation is not just a teachers’ organization, but it is a great ideology. Teachers have every right to live a dignified life. This ‘dignity’ is not limited to their livelihood, but it is related to their duty and sincerity. Selfless sacrifice and selfless dedication to the society is the true identity of the teachers’ society. Teaching is not just a profession or a ‘choice’; it is a strong will and a great responsibility to shape the future of the coming generation.
Shri Pradhan said that starting from Adi Shankaracharya to Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, Rabindranath Tagore and Mahima Gosain, everyone has represented Indianness. In this era, we have to come out of the ‘Macaulay’ mentality and adopt our own culture and pride. In this direction, the All India Educational Mahasangh should also take responsibility and move forward.
Odisha is going to complete 100 years of its formation in 2036 and India is going to complete 100 years of independence in 2047. There are about 75 lakh school children in Odisha, both government and private. During this period, teachers, government and society will have to work together to support the children of government schools. A new policy is going to be implemented for the School Management Committee, the entire responsibility of which lies with the society for its successful implementation.
Teachers are the ‘craftsmen’ who give a beautiful shape to the raw clay of a tender-minded child. Stating that only with the coordination of these three – students, parents and teachers – can real changes be brought about in the society, Shri Pradhan highlighted the introduction of new textbooks in Odisha under the new National Education Policy that are based on self-respect, self-reliance and reformation.
