Noting that internet has opened floodgates of information before students, state Governor K K Paul today said the role of teachers in this era has become even more crucial as they alone can properly train young minds and channelise their energies in the right direction.
Speaking as the chief guest at the inauguration of a two-day conference of principals and teachers here, the Governor said the internet has made available an ocean of information to students and this poses a great challenge before teachers.
"In this scenario, teachers can play a very important role in giving direction to the originality, creativity and energy of young students besides inculcating excellent ethical values in them," he said.
"Children of working parents can get affected by their environment as parents do not have enough time to guide them. This age for children is a sensitive one where there is more possibility of their getting misled. This makes the role and responsibility of teachers even more important," Paul said.
Describing youth as the country's future, the Governor said value-oriented education needs to be focussed upon in order to make students good citizens.
As Indian culture and civilisation is known for its values in the world, it is the responsibility of principals and teachers to create an atmosphere which is conducive for children to imbibe Indian values, he said.
He went on to refer to the address made by Swami Vivekananda in Chicago in 1893 in which he said (replying to a query of an American) that in America, a tailor made a man a gentleman but in India, character made a man a gentleman.
'Role and challenges of teachers in the present times' is the theme of the conference this year.
