The Hindu : Give teachers their due: Kalam

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 06, 2003

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Give teachers their due: Kalam

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI SEPT. 5. The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, today asked policy-makers to ensure that teachers are given the importance and respect they deserve. Addressing a function organised here today to mark Teachers' Day, the First Citizen sought to underscore the need to give teachers their due by stating that the destiny of the 20-crore children in Indian schools was in their hands.

The Union Human Resource Development Minister, Murli Manohar Joshi, highlighted the measures taken by the Government to improve the lot of the teachers. He said nearly five lakh teaching posts were created over the last one-and-half years, which was about the number of such posts created over the past decade.

Echoing the views aired by the President in his Teachers' Day-eve speech, Dr. Joshi cited a recent survey, which showed teachers to be the role models for a majority of the students contacted. Stating that Indian society and students keep teachers in high esteem, he said this put an additional responsibility on teachers, as they had to live up to the expectations of their students and serve as a link between the family and the pupils.

At the function, the President presented awards to 282 teachers from across the country. Sixteen teachers from Andhra Pradesh were given awards, two from Arunachal Pradesh, five from Assam, eight from Bihar, six from Chhattisgarh, two from Goa, 14 from Gujarat, seven from Haryana, four from Himachal Pradesh, 13 from Karnataka, 16 from Kerala, 12 from Madhya Pradesh, 29 from Maharashtra, two each from Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland, 10 from Orissa, four from Punjab, 13 from Rajasthan, two from Sikkim, 22 from Tamil Nadu, two from Tripura, 27 from Uttar Pradesh, four from Uttaranchal, 12 from West Bengal, two from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, one from Dadra & Nagar Haveli, four from Delhi, and two each from Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep and Pondicherry.

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