Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday exhorted teachers to teach stories from the “Panchatantra”, the book of ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables, to school students. “Doing so will help the children become more decisive and distinguish between right and wrong,” he said after inaugurating AM Naik School in Powai.
Mr Shah said the National Educational Policy (NEP) 2020 does not look at education merely as a means to land a job, but the policy is rooted in Indian ethos which looks at creating better citizens. He said the education policy launched during the pandemic is exactly similar to the thoughts of former President S Radhakrishnan, whose birthday is celebrated as Teachers Day.
Mr Shah termed “unfortunate” the time gap taken for Radhakrishnan’s deep thinking about teaching and education to get formalised into a policy like NEP. Calling Radhakrishnan an “adarsh guru”, Mr Shah urged the teaching community to read more of him to understand their own profession better.
Stating that he likes visiting schools, Mr Shah said it is the responsibility of present-day teachers to create the future citizens of India.
Speaking at the event, where Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was also present, Shah said Fadnavis attempted to get the lost glory of Maharashtra during the latter’s term as Chief Minister between 2014-19.