Medical Education Minister and Mysore district in-charge S.A. Ramdas called upon the teacher fraternity to impart moral education to students.
He was inaugurating the Teachers' Day celebrations at Kala Mandira here on Monday. The function was jointly organised by the Mysore Zilla Panchayat and the Department of Public Instruction.
It was unfortunate that the moral standards in society had gone down as a strong foundation was not being laid at the primary education level. As a result, the ‘Guru-Shishya' tradition of the Indian system of education too was losing its sheen, Mr. Ramdas observed.
Indirectly referring to introduction of Bhagavad Gita classes in schools, he lamented that attempts to bring in changes in the education system with emphasis on moral and spiritual education were being detested in some quarters.
‘Yoga Dasara' would be held as part of the Dasara festivities for 10 days from September 18. It aimed at building self-confidence among students. Physical education teachers would be roped in for the event, Mr. Ramdas said. The Government was trying to resolve all issues concerning education, apart from initiating steps to solve the problems of teachers, he said.
Mr. Ramdas recalled the contribution of the former President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, whose birth anniversary was being celebrated across the country as Teachers' Day.
Many teachers, who entered politics, had served with distinction. However, playing politics in educational institutions was not welcome, Mr. Ramdas noted.
Sait walks out
Tanvir Sait, Narasimharaja MLA, who was the chief guest, walked out in protest when the function did not start even 40 minutes after the scheduled time. He said he was leaving to attend another function. Efforts by some teachers to stop him did not yield any results.
Mr. Ramdas, who arrived later, said that he was held up at another function to mark the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Tataiah.
Felicitations
Mayor Pushpalata Chikkanna and Mr. Ramdas felicitated nine primary school teachers and five high school teachers from Mysore district for their service to the field of education.
The president of the Mysore Zilla Panchayat, J. Sunita Veerappa Gowda, presided over the function. H.S. Umesh, principal of the Sarada Vilas College, was the main speaker.
