Teachers' role vital in strengthening secularism,democracy:Patil

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

New Delhi, Sep 5 (UNI) Honouring 314 awardees on Teachers' Day here today, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil sought to underscore the need for the country's education system to strengthen the values of secularism, democracy and inclusiveness.

She also exhorted the teachers to become role models for their students.

It is mainly teachers who can inculcate in children the values enshrined in the Constitution, she said.

''These values give strength and sustenance not only to our diverse multi-cultural society but also to our country'', Mrs Patil said after giving away the National Awards to the teachers.

Mrs Patil quoted Mahatma Gandhi to emphasise her point--'' I have found that children imbibe more from the teachers' own lives than they do from books they read to them or the lectures that they deliver to them." Mrs Patil said in today's fast changing society, teachers need to keep themselves up-to-date with new knowledge and interpret the vast information available to students through various media.

They should upgrade their knowledge, skills and competencies through professional preparation.

''Teacher training programmes need to reflect critically the multiple contexts in which schools function and come out with specific solutions relevant to teaching in schools located in urban , rural and tribal areas and in disadvantaged regions,'' she said.

In Mrs Patil's views, the models of pre-service and in-service teacher preparation require critical review. In pre-service teacher education programmes, there is a need for integration between, theory and practice and between subject content and pedagogy, she said.

She also emphasised the need to develop vocational skills and the role of women in promoting our education objectives.

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