Corrupt, decadent class of teachers can harm nation: Harsh;Honours 206 meritorious students

 STATE TIMES NEWS
RAMNAGAR: Encouraging the morale of the students, Harsh Dev Singh, Chairman JKNPP and former Education Minister, on Sunday honoured 206 meritorious students, who bagged positions and distinctions in Secondary and Higher Secondary Examinations last year.
Harsh, while addressing the gathering here, emphasised on the role played by the teachers as well as the students in nation building.
“Education is the ultimate realm of the human beings which is a process of enlightenment and empowerment of the individual for achievement of better and high quality of life,” he said adding that a nation is built by its citizens and the citizens are moulded by the teachers and concluded that ‘Teacher is a nation builder’.
While attributing the success of the honoured meritorious students to their teachers, he said that the teachers needed to have a high level of commitment towards their duties and responsibilities entrusted to them because they are the judges who academically rate the students, differentiate them on the basis of their intellectual and social skills in preparation for the occupational roles which they would eventually play.
He maintained that no other personality can have an influence more profound than that of a teacher, as the students are deeply affected by the teacher’s character, competence, and moral commitment.
He said that a popular teacher is a model for the students who follow his manners, customs, etiquette, style of conversation and behavior adding that in the development of a country, great attention has to be paid to education and learning, as well as good morals, and nobody was more suited to assist in this process than a qualified and efficient teacher.
He further maintained that a corrupt and decadent class of teachers can harm a nation more seriously than a class of corrupt and perverted judiciary, army, police, bureaucracy, politicians or technocrats as they are not only incompetent but also the harbinger of a corrupt generation. The former Education Minister while interacting with the students said that they constituted the backbone of a nation as well as the pillar on which the national edifice was built.
He maintained that student were the guardians of freedom, justice, equality, ethics and social equilibrium who could play a significant role in weeding out social menace like injustice, inequality, oppression, corruption, communalism, militancy, criminalization in politics, etc by various peaceful movements.
He further reckoned that the students can render valuable services by extending their helping hands in promoting mass literacy programmes, public awareness schemes, forestation projects, and by undertaking social work for the upliftment of the poor and the economically backward people of the society.
He further pointed out that the students being a powerful force can also render valuable services to the nation at the time of natural calamities such as, earthquakes, floods, drought, and accidents by organizing quick rescue work during these National emergencies. He said that the students could play a significant role in promoting nationalism, patriotism and a feeling of brotherhood, peace and harmony in the society.
He wished good luck to the meritorious students in their future endeavours and hoped that they would surely bring laurels to their schools, teachers and parents in the days to come.