Education is the basis for the development and progress of an individual and teachers play a pivotal role in shaping future of citizens of the country. This was stated by Chief Minister Shri Virbhadra Singh who was the chief guest during the State Level felicitation function organized by State Education Board held at Dharamsala today. As many as 72 meritorious students of 108 schools were honoured by the Chief Minister during the function.Congratulating the students and their teachers on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that it was proud moment for the children for being honoured for excelling in academics and other curricular activities.He said that the State government was aware of the value of education and has developed adequate infrastructure for strengthening the educational set-up. He said that there were 15534 schools catering to the quality educational needs of the students and during the last three years of the present Government 994 new schools were opened or upgraded, besides opening 25 degree colleges in the far-flung and remote areas of the State. Not only this, there were 94 degree colleges in the State and most of these had been opened during the Congress regimes, he added.
Chief Minister said that free travelling facility was being provided to students of Government Schools and Kendriya Vidyalayas. He said that net books/lap-tops were being provided to 10,000 meritorious students of 10th and 12th Classes under ''Rajiv Gandhi Digital Yojana'' during the current financial year. He said that the Government was providing two pairs of uniform annually to the children of government schools.Shri Virbhadra Singh exhorted the students to work hard so as to achieve success in life. He said that in the fast changing world of information technology, one has to keep pace with the latest changing trends and hoped that the children would draw inspiration from the students who were honoured today. He said the schools which have failed to provide better results or where children were unable to secure good marks, the performance of teachers of such schools would be evaluated and reasons for the same would be ascertained. He said that it was the duty of every child and every individual of state to preserve tradition culture and customs of the State and to respect our elders and teachers.
Chief Minister expressed happiness that the School Education Board had conducted various entrance and recruitment examinations with advanced technical infrastructure. He said that the Board had implemented biometric attendance system which had gone a long way in bringing efficiency in the functioning of the Board.Earlier, Chairman HP State Education Board, Shri Balbir Tegta welcomed and honoured the Chief Minister and detailed the activities of the Board.Secretary, Education Board, Shri Vinay Dhiman proposed vote of thanks.Forest Minister, Shri Thakur Singh Bharmour, MLA Shri Ajay Mahajan, Vice-Chairman, State Forest Corporation, Shri Kewal Singh Pathania, Ex-MLA, Shri Surinder Kaku, Member, School Education Board, Shri Sita Ram Shashtri and senior officers were also present on the occasion.