On Teachers Day – 20 honoured; HPU releases pay arrears
Shimla: With drug abuse on the rise among school going children and young adults, Governor Urmila Singh, on teachers, day called upon the community to impart value based education and create awareness among students about the harmful effects of intoxicants and drug abuse.
On the occasion at Raj Bhavan, the governor, in presence of chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and education minister ID Dhiman, honoured 20 teachers, four of whom were conferred a national award and the others state level awards. The national award carries a Rs 60000 prize and a state award a Rs 40000 prize.
Stressing upon the silent role of teacher play in contributing towards a healthy society, she asked the community to constantly update themselves as knowledge was not a static field and keeps evolving with changing times.
A holistic education system should be imparted, she said, where students are made aware of traditions, culture and values besides academics.
Speaking about the importance of education the girl child, the governor said that under ‘Right to Education’ in needed to be ensured that no child was deprived of the opportunity to study.
Chief Minister Dhumal said that subjects like environment and prohibition should be added to the school curriculum. To inspire young minds, contributions made by prominent personalities had already been included in the regular course books, he added.
He said ‘Beti Hai Anmol’ a state campaign for according priority in admission in educational institutions to single girl child was being successfully implemented.
The government was spending Rs 3164 Cr, which was 19 % of the state budget on education. Process of recruiting 1000 junior basic teachers (JBTs) would start soon, he added.
“To make education a competitive sector for upgrading to international levels, the government was encouraging participation of the private sector and already about 7000 students in higher education were studying in private educational institutions,†said Dhumal.
He added that no private university would be allowed to affiliate any college and the government was regulating the fee structure to check exploitation of the students’ community.
Function at HPU
At Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) in a separate function, vice-chancellor AND Bajpai asked to teachers to maintain self respect and integrity.
He said the teaching community was an exclusive class and teachers were incomparable with others in the society.
On the occasion the VC Bajpai announced release of 20% arrears to the teachers under the 6th wage board recommendations saying that the remaining 10% would be released at the earliest.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads the team of media professionals at Hill Post.
In a career spanning over two decades through all formats of journalism in Electronic, Print and Online Media, he brings with him enough experience to steer this platform. He lives in Shimla.