Giving away the national awards for teachers on the occasion of Teachers’ Day here, Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu said on Tuesday that they have a “formidable responsibility” to help achieve 100% literacy in the next five years.
While these awards were distributed by the President in the past, the Vice-President gave away the awards this time to 219 teachers, in what was a break with tradition. President Ram Nath Kovind later interacted with the awardees at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Mr. Naidu also launched DIKSHA, being touted as national digital infrastructure for teachers, on the occasion.
“Teachers are ‘bharata bhagya vidhatas’ (shapers of India’s development), dedicating their time and energy to shape individuals for creating New India. They have a formidable responsibility to achieve 100% literacy in next five years,” Mr. Naidu said at the award ceremony at Vigyan Bhavan here.
Digital infrastructure
Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar, said “DIKSHA is a customisable national digital infrastructure that States, Teacher Education Institutions (TEI) and private entities can use for their respective teacher-centric initiatives,” he said.
Conferred since 1958, the National Award for Teachers is given to those who have rendered exemplary service.
