The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that the role and contribution of a teacher in the formation of a nation is immense and praiseworthy. He was addressing the gathering after presenting the Malti Gyan Peeth Puraskar to 15 teachers from Government Schools from Punjab, who have shown excellence in teaching, in New Delhi today. The Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, the Minister of State for Rural Development, Shri Ram Kripal Yadav and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.The Vice President said that Teachers have been given respect and honour in our culture. He further said that the word 'guru' means 'source of light' and the duty of the teacher is not only to educate the students, but also to make them enriched. They not only have to fill the word knowledge in the minds of students, but also to teach the ethics, commitment, selflessness and even the lesson of awareness, he added.
The Vice President said that in today's changing environment, when education is being more commercialized, it is necessary for teachers to give more emphasis in the formation of their character besides providing education to the students. He quoted Mahatma Gandhi as saying "If there is no good character from education, then there is no value for education for such knowledge.The Vice President said that usage of mother tongue is very important in the education. He further said that mother tongue is the most accessible and simple language for any person. In mother tongue we can express our views more easily and more affectively, he added.The Vice President said that the downfall in female literacy rate has a direct impact on India's growth, because it affects every area of development. If women remain uneducated, then it will have a direct and negative impact on the efforts made to control the country's growing population, he added.