Not renaming Teachers’ Day, Smriti Irani says
Union HRD minister Smriti Irani dismissed reports that the Centre was planning to celebrate Teachers' Day as Guru Utsav.
NEW DELHI: The NDA government went into a damage control mode on Monday with a controversy erupting over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plans to address school children on Teachers' Day, for which participation was being perceived as being made mandatory for schools. What added fuel to the fire was the government's plans to mark September 5, the birth anniversary of former President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, as 'Guru Ustav' instead of 'Shikshak Diwas'.
HRD minister Smriti Irani said participation of schools and students in the event was "voluntary" and also dismissed reports that the Centre was planning to celebrate the day as 'Guru Utsav', saying it was the name of an essay competition. The minister called the criticism as "politically motivated". She insisted that September 5 will continue to be celebrated as 'Teachers' Day'.
Irani's defence came while she fielded questions at an NCERT programme Monday morning before she spent a good hour at the BJP headquarters interacting with the media to clarify that participation at the interactive session with the PM was "not mandatory" for schools and students. "It is not mandatory, anyone who wants to participate will participate (in the interaction)," the minister said.
"This particular activity is voluntary in nature. If it is being politicized, then I would say it is regrettable," Irani said, when asked about objections raised by several political parties and state governments over the Centre's directive to ensure students' participation in the event. States like West Bengal and even parties in Tamil Nadu have voiced dissent over the planned exercise.
Second President of India Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan's birthday, September 5, is celebrated as Teachers' Day.
Congress questioned the move to subject impressionable schoolchildren to what it called "political propaganda". "It has never happened ... what sense can a Class 1 student make of the PM's speech? Can such propaganda be done with state machinery? What is the net result besides propaganda and drama? It is time the government introspected," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said. The party also attacked the scheduled timing of the PM's speech —from 3 to 4.45pm.
Reacting sharply to the criticism, Irani said, "If the Prime Minister of a free India does not have the freedom to interact with students, then it is ridiculous."
On 'Guru Utsav', Irani said, her ministry had sent a representation to all states about an essay competition under that title in their language. She claimed that over 1.3 lakh students have already taken part in the contest. "I don't know how it all started. Those who are commenting either don't know the facts or are doing it wilfully for political reasons," she said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with students on Teachers' Day.
Modi is slated to talk to about 1,000 selected students at the Manekshaw Auditorium here on September 5. The programme, which will see the PM interact with students and take questions via video conferencing facility, will be beamed live to over 18 lakh government and private schools in the country through Doordarshan and education channels.
Times View
The move to rename Teachers' Day as Guru Utsav betrays a mindset that sees only one language - Sanskrit - as the repository of 'Indian' culture. It has been known as Teachers' Day for as long as any of us can remember and there is really no reason to change it, particularly since words like 'teacher' have become very much part of the vocabulary of all Indian languages.
That apart, it also suggests that the education ministry's priorities need urgent resetting. There is much in our country's education system that needs to be set right, from high dropout rates to low enrolment in higher education to teacher absenteeism in schools and much else.
The minister would do better to focus on these than on renaming occasions. On the back foot after protests in Tamil Nadu, she now says that only an essay competition was being named Guru Utsav. This sounds disingenuous — why should a competition be called festival
?
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