India needs more competent teachers: President

Noting that India faces a big challenge to improve the quality of teaching and learning outcomes in schools, President Pranab Mukherjee today said the nation needs more competent and willing teachers to achieve these objectives.
Teachers should imbibe in students the values of tolerance, secularism and inclusiveness to make the world a safer and better place to live in, he said addressing the National Teachers Awards function here coinciding with Teachers' Day.
"India today needs many more competent and willing teachers to dedicate themselves to improving the standard and quality of education being currently imparted.
"Teachers have a vital role to play in the process of upgrading the quality of education which is a direct consequence and outcome of the quality of teachers," he said.

Observing that a robust and quality-oriented education system is the force multiplier to transform India, he said the country was investing substantially in the education system and has allocated Rs 29,000 crore for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and another Rs 5000 crore for Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan.
Other important initiatives include launching of a school assessment programme and the Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya New Teachers Training Programme for imparting new training tools and motivating teachers, he said.

He also asked the teachers to keep pace with rapidly changing technologies and pointed to recent budget where allocations were made for setting up virtual classrooms as communication linked interface for cultivating knowledge and online courses.

Mukherjee said the mentoring of teachers should be such that it transforms children into capable, knowledgeable and worthy global citizens.
"The world today faces challenges of violence, terrorism, intolerance and environmental degradation. The values of truth, tolerance, integrity, secularism and inclusiveness need to be imparted to our children to make the world a safer and better place to live in.
"Dear Teachers, please remember that your mentoring and your way of educating our children must be such that it transforms them into capable, knowledgeable and worthy global citizens," he said.