The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that we need teachers who have the required competence, confidence and commitment to make a difference to the educational landscape of our country. He was addressing the gathering after giving away the National Award to Teachers – 2016, here today. The Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Prakash Javadekar, the Ministers of State for Human Resource Development, Shri Upendra Kushwaha, Dr. Satya Pal Singh, the Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, Shri Anil Swarup and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.The Vice President said that today, on Teachers' Day, we reverentially remember first Vice President of India, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan a great teacher, an intellectual giant and an eloquent exponent of Hindu thought, on his birth anniversary. He congratulated all teachers who were receiving National Award to Teachers - 2016. He further said that he appreciate the work of numerous unsung heroes in classrooms of our country.
The ‘real education’ to foster all round development of students is what should aim for and there should be holistic development of students with equal emphasis on academic excellence and skills for self-employment or gainful employment, he added.The Vice President said that the teachers, are the ‘Bharata Bhagya Vidhatas’ (shapers of India’s development) and they are dedicating their time and energy to shape individuals for creating New India. He further said that the teachers have a formidable responsibility for India to achieve 100 per cent literacy in next five years. India was once known as “Vishwa Guru” with people from across the globe flocking to our ancient seats of learning like Nalanda and Takshashila, he added. The Vice President said that India’s value system, culture and heritage should be accorded due importance in the syllabus. Today all teachers must pledge to transform classrooms into hubs of joyful learning and raise the education system to a much higher level, he advised.