Correspondent
KOHIMA, SEPTEMBER 5
On the occasion of Teachers’ Day, parliamentary secretary for School Education Yitachu paid rich tributes to teachers for their contributions towards the students and the society and hailed the teaching fraternity as agents of social change.
Addressing the state level Teachers’ Day celebration 2014 at the NBCC Convention Centre, Kohima on Friday, Yitachu called upon all teachers to be role models for their students not just leading towards academic knowledge, but also imparting moral education and enriching the personality of the students. This is the need of the hour in the present context of our society, he stated.
“Take up teaching profession to shine and drive away darkness of illiteracy and ignorance from the society,” he challenged the teachers.Reminding the gathering of the contributions of Dr. S Radhakrishnan in the field of education in the country, and whose birth anniversary is dedicated to teachers, Yitachu urged upon the teaching community to take challenges from the life of this great leader and take resolute steps to live upto certain height in their profession by following suggested guidelines enshrined in the message to teachers by the NCERT New Delhi.
He advised teachers to maintain gender equity and social equality while dealing with the students and also to be watchful of cyber crime, sexual harassment, use of intoxicants, drug abuse, ragging etc. which can be done away with counseling approaches.
Pointing out that currently there are 3299 government schools and hundreds of registered private schools in the state with approximately 5 Lacs student enrolment, Yitachu recalled the words of the former Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio that Nagaland literacy rate is 80.11% which is above the national literacy level but civilization has not yet started because the more educated people, more problems are evolving. This shows that there is something wrong in our education system, he stated.
During his address, Yitachu has announced special holiday for all schools in the State on account of Teachers Day celebration.
Towards this, the parliamentary secretary called upon all teachers to not just develop the ability to teach but also to love and inculcate moral values by personal examples.
Yitachu urged the government set up schools to meticulously and judiciously implement with transparency the facilities of SSA, RMSA, RTE, communitisation and Mid-Day Meal which are left to their discretion.
While appreciating the contribution of private schools in producing good academic results with quality education by dealing with more elite students, he acknowledged that all parents cannot afford to send their children to private schools. He stated that government schools dealing with students from economically poor background and less educated families should not be ignored. Stressing on the need to encourage both government and private schools equally, he informed that the department is trying to provide one Maths and Science teacher each to private high schools in the state.
The parliamentary secretary also announced that the department is in the process of rationalisation of teachers for all the schools in the state and it is also undertaking the restructuring process of the department favourable to the teachers by opening more opportunities to reach the higher position.
He said while government is in the process of facilitating opportunities and privilege for the teachers, the teachers in turn should give their best to the students for better education in the state.
Towards this end, he also informed that the department has already been directed to move the pending salaries of SSA teachers within a month’s time.
He further called upon the teaching fraternity to recommit to discharge their duties and responsibilities sincerely and diligently.
The parliamentary secretary also presented the awards to 36 teachers from across the state who were selected for the State Teachers Award 2014 while parliamentary secretary for Sericulture & Cooperation, Pukhayi Sumi handed over the Teachers Financial Assistance 2014 to the seven selected beneficiaries.
