On the morning of Thursday 5th September 2013 Shri Narendra Modi honoured the best teachers of Gujarat on the occasion of Teacher’s Day. He congratulated the teachers for their wonderful work and spoke about the importance of teachers in the life of a child. Shri Modi remarked that moving from the era of teaching, we are now in the era of learning and that we must think of ways through which we can make our children learn more. He added that the strength of learning is more important than the strength of teaching.
The Chief Minister paid rich tributes to former President of India Dr. S Radhakrishnan and said, “We have seen many Presidents, Prime Ministers, Ministers etc but some people inspire for generations to come. Dr. Radhakrishnan is one such stalwart. We do not remember him for the files he signed or the decisions he took but we remember him as an excellent teacher.”
He recalled that earlier, this function of honouring teachers was held at a very small scale and the Chief Minister would not even be present on the occasion. But, this has changed in the last decade. Shri Modi remarked that the honouring of teachers is a matter of immense pride for the state and that it should be held on a larger scale.
Shri Modi shared that there are some fresh ideas in his mind regarding the teaching community. He said that the Government is looking at increasing the scale of this event as well as the prize money, which has become imperative considering the fact that the Rupee is in the ICU!
The Chief Minister expressed joy that the teachers are doing great things such as caring for the specially abled and shared that it is good to see teachers reading a lot to satisfy the intellectual curiosity of the students.
Shri Modi stated that there is no age limit as far as learning is concerned and added that it is important that there be a student in every teacher. Shri Modi opined that if the teacher aspires to learn, it shows in the students.
Speaking on the occasion, the Honourable Governor Dr. Kamla congratulated the teachers and opined that education is not merely reading books and taking a degree but it is something beyond that. She stressed on the need of giving back to the society.
Education Minister Shri Bhupendrasinh Chudasama said that apart from Shikshan (Education), Sanskar (values) are equally important. MLA Shri Ashok Patel, Gandhinagar Mayor Shri Rana, Principal Secretary (Education) Shri AM Tiwari and others were present on the occasion.
The teachers Shri Modi honoured include Madhviben Joshi (Sabarkantha district), Maheshbhai Patel, B Mafatbhai Patel (Patan district), Anjanaben Patel (Dahod district), Shobhnaben Vyas (Kutch district), Ambabhai Patel (Banaskantha district), Ramanbhai Somabhai (Anand district), Bakulaben Bhatt (Kheda district), Lakshmanbhai (Vadodara district), Rameshbhai Patel (Navsari district), Gamanbhai Jogibhai Patel (Navsari district), Geetaben Vaghela (Surat district), Chandubhai Amrutiya (Jamnagar district), Kishorebhai Parmar (Rajkot district), Pravinbhai Modasaia (Rajkot), Kanchanbhai (Amreli district), Sureshchandra Mehta (Talala Taluka), Vallabhbhai Faldu (Junagadh district), Sajjansinhbhai (Dahod district), Kanjibhai Bharwad (Anand district), Abdullah Ali Patel (Bharuch district), Kamleshbhai Shukla (Jamnagar district), Parshottambhai Patel (Amreli district), Narsinhlal Barot (Banaskantha district), Amrutlal bhai (Ahmedabad), Navinchandra Patel (Navsari district), Mohammed Hussain Ali (Rajkot district), Sureshbhai Kantilal (Kutch district), Sudhaben Joshi (Ahmedabad), Dr. Dineshbhai Anandbhai (Junagadh district), Ritaben Phulwala (Surat district), Ramanbhai (Vadodara).
