Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar felicitated the toppers of 33 schools in the program 'Shimla ke Medhavi' organized by Divya Himachal Media Group at Government Girls Senior Secondary School Portmore, Shimla, today.
The program was organized in association with Vidyapeeth Shimla, in which about 350 meritorious students of class X, XI and XII of the city participated.
On the occasion, the Governor said that we were celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and this was the time when there was a need to reflect on the direction in which we were going in the next 25 years. He said that meritorious students also inspire us to move ahead in our respective fields, so we must appreciate and honour them.
Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar said that the present education system provides 'text book' based education. We need to consider the education which restricts us to become only job seekers after obtaining certificates which cannot make us job providers. He said that ‘colonial education’ only drives us towards making us slaves and we need to come out of this.
He said that there was a need to experiment differently in the present education system, for this purpose the National Education Policy-2020 was brought. “NEP is going to determine the direction and aim of education. It is related to our motherland”, he said.
The Governor said that the basic aim of education was to impart moral values. It was the duty of parents to create an environment of education at home, he added. The governor said that the most important thing which should be kept in mind to attain success in life was to become a good person.
He said that the future of the country depends on the youth and the goal of education should be on making a good human being as other achievements keep on adding on automatically. He exhorted the students that their education should move forward in this direction.
On the occasion, Urban Development Minister Suresh Bhardwaj said that Himachal Pradesh is celebrating 75 years of its creation and the State Government was organizing programs in this regard in the name of “Progressive Himachal”.
He gave a detailed account of the unprecedented development in Himachal in these 75 years and said that the literacy rate of Himachal Pradesh was only 4.8 percent in 1948, which has now increased to more than 90 per cent.
The total length of the roads was 250 km, which has now increased to 40,000 km. In 1948 there were only 350 government schools which have now increased to 16,000 and there were 146 government colleges. All this was the result of hard work of the people of the State and strong leadership.
He detailed the developmental schemes and achievements of the present State Government. He congratulated Divya Himachal for this felicitation ceremony organized for meritorious students.Earlier, State Bureau Chief, Divya Himachal Rajesh Mandhotra welcomed the Governor and briefed about the function.Director of Vidyapeeth Shimla Dr. Ramesh Sharma also spoke on the occasion and Director Vidyapeeth Ravindra Awasthi proposed a vote of thanks.