At times when nation remembered Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on his birth anniversary and extended greetings to teaching fraternity, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with Education Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, felicitated and awarded 87 teachers in various categories for their selfless service and rigorous efforts to make qualitative changes in the education system in Delhi and shaping the future.
Lauding their efforts to strengthen education system, Kejriwal, “Every child of Delhi is like my own son. No child is any less important for me than my own son. It is my duty to provide for all of Delhi’s people because I consider them as a part of my family.”
Speaking about the role of teachers in society, he said, “Till 1830, before the introduction of British Education system, teaching was the most sought after profession in India. Delhi government plans to revive that unique system in Delhi, to ensure that the best cream of the society will be brought into the teaching profession and thereby benefitting the future generations.”
“The biggest mission for us was to fix government schools. We were anxious whether we will succeed in doing that. In just 4 years, with solid support from teachers and principals, we have reached a point where government schools are just as good as if not better than private schools. We have transformed the entire environment of government schools,” he said.
Echoing Jai Bhim Mukhymantri Pratibha Vikas Yojana, he said, “In the past year, the scheme has been so successful at bridging the gap between rich and poor that today we have expanded it to General and OBCs categories as well and have also increased the amount. “I am especially thrilled by Vijay’s success because my son has also enrolled this year at the same IIT, in fact with a lower rank. This scheme is actually changing lives of the poor,” he said.
Reminiscing about his time as a student in school, Kejriwal said that one teacher had decided the course of his life. “I had just cleared Class 10 in 1983. I had a Biology teacher, Chopra ma’am who had told me that no matter what I did, I must do it the best. I had decided from my childhood that I wanted to be a doctor. I used to be her favourite student because I was a topper. In the AIIMS college then, there were 35 seats and IIT had a 1,500 seats. The only reason I chose to appear for the IIT entrance and not the AIIMS entrance was that the odds seemed better, and per Chopra ma’am I couldn’t settle for a second-best medical college.”
“It is incredible just how much influence a school teacher has on a child’s life. In 1985, I joined IIT and in 20 years in 2015, the people of Delhi gave us the responsibility for Delhi. We were such ordinary people but people gave us such a big responsibility. I often used to think that now that I have got this opportunity despite coming from a very ordinary background, what is it that I should do? I decided that I will work towards just one goal - if any child in Delhi wants to go to an IIT, then the lack of resources should never come in the way of them seizing that opportunity,” said the chief minister.
Sisodia also extended the wishes for Teacher’s Day and congratulated the awardee teachers for their excellence and dedication. He recalled
the path-breaking changes
that Delhi government brought in the Education Sector in the last four years. “Recognition of people as well various stakeholders including the parents is the greatest honour for a teacher,”he said.
