'Education must aim to integrate society'

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 5. The nation honoured teachers for their contribution and services to the progress of the society on Teachers Day today - the birth anniversary of the former President, Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan.

The Vice-President, Mr. Krishan Kant, felicitated 278 teachers with the national award, 2000, at a function in Vigyan Bhavan here. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 25,000, a silver medal and a certificate of merit.

The President, Mr. K. R. Narayanan, who was to have given away the awards, said in his message to the Human Resource Development Minister, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, that he was unable to attend the function as doctors had advised him rest.

Dr. Joshi said the Government was concerned about the erosion of values and in ``our culturally-pluralistic society, education should foster universal and eternal values aiming towards the unity and integration of our society.''

The Rajasthan Governor, Mr. Anshuman Singh, giving away awards to 50 teachers at a ceremony in Jaipur, said teachers played a crucial role in preparing the new generation meet challenges and in instilling ideals and values.

The Haryana Governor, Mr. Babu Paramanand, said the teaching community played a key role in the development of a country as education was one of the pillars of progress and prosperity. At the same time, he expressed concern over the deteriorating standards in education, particularly the teacher-student relations.

A special function was organised in Punjab at which the Chief Minister, Mr. Parkash Singh Badal, said he was committed to restructuring the education system. Schemes and programmes would be put in place to raise the academic standard.

Committing his Government to total literacy by 2005, as a part of attaining `Swarna' Andhra Pradesh, the Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, appealed to the teaching community to rededicate itself.

The Nagaland Education Minister, Mr. H. Chuba Chang, said the standard of education in Government schools was declining. And a Centrally-sponsored scheme, `Vision better Nagaland,' would be implemented within five years to improve it.

Mr. Mukut Mithi, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister, emphasised the importance of training teachers to cope with the changes brought about by technological advancements. Giving away awards to 32 teachers, he expressed concern over the 62 per cent dropout rate in schools and asked the education department and the teaching community to curtail it.

A humiliating experience, say teachers

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 5. ``We are revered by our students and their parents, our friends and relatives, neighbours and community members in the small villages and towns we come from. But here in this big city, we have had a bad, humiliating experience.''

In the cacophony inside the dining hall of ITDC-run `Ashok Yatri Niwas', this frail-looking gentleman clad in a dhoti and a long shirt was screaming. He is a teacher, on whom was bestowed the National Award on Teacher's Day today. A matter of pride for him and his extended family of thousands of students, whom he has taught over the past four decades in a tribal belt of Orissa.

An honour which comes to select people each year and they perhaps also get their lifetime's opportunity to meet the President. This year, however, the award winning-teachers were unlucky as the President was indisposed and unable to give away the awards. This is not to say that the presence of the Vice- President, Mr. Kishan Kant, and the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, undermined the function in any way. But it surely did dash many hopes.

What irked a majority of the award winners was the facility provided for their four-day stay in Delhi. They were all invited as the guests of the Government, and the Human Resource Development Ministry footed the bills for their stay and food.

But it turned out to be a great disappointment for several persons. ``The hotel staff was unable to handle the large crowd decently. For our meals, we had to wait in queues for long. The delay caused unnecessary pushing and jostling. The sight of dining area too was very unhygienic as the used plates were not being removed promptly,'' complained one teacher. ``Nobody responded to the room bell. The service has been very poor.

The Ministry could have put us up in a slightly better place,'' another said. A third followed: ``In our small villages, we too host big functions such as marriages and treat hundreds of people with dignity. But here, we are treated like some godforsaken `dehatis', who perhaps do not deserve anything better in the eyes of these polished hotelwallas.''

So, the honour and ovation that came along with the award in the cool comforts of the Vigyan Bhavan was somewhat quashed by the rest of the events.

The apparent ``lack of respect on display at the hotel'' disillusioned many, who felt that the ``five-star hospitality industry'' needed to take a lesson or two from ``ordinary mortals.''

A check with the hotel staff evoked the standard reply: ``We entertained over 500 guests (the award winners and their families) to the best of our ability. But when the group is so big, few complaints are bound to surface.''

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