Acknowledging the yeoman service rendered by the teaching community, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday said academic activities could continue amid COVID-19 only due to teachers’ commitment and unstinting dedication even as educational institutions remained closed all over.
Mr. Vijayan, who congratulated teachers for their efforts in his Teachers’ Day message, said they continued to plough on during the period despite the significant increase in their workload as education transitioned to the digital world. In the process, the teachers became students as they accustomed themselves to the new pedagogical techniques.
Notwithstanding such challenges, the teachers strived to impart knowledge among children.
Expressing optimism that the State would be able to reopen educational institutions without much delay, he exhorted educationists to carry forward their efforts with renewed vigour.
New direction
The experience gained through the crisis must instil strength and new direction for their efforts, he said.
Educational institutions must be able to fuel the State’s aspiration to create a knowledge society.
Pledging the government’s support for the teaching community, Mr. Vijayan reminded them of their role to cultivate a generation that upheld human and progressive values while imparting knowledge among youngsters.
Mindset
Efforts must be made to nurture a mindset that opposed communalism, superstition, and bad customs, and strived to uphold democracy and scientific thought.
The Chief Minister also stressed on the need to persevere to realise the advice of former President and academic S. Radhakrishnan that “the end product of education should be a free creative man, who can battle against historical circumstances and adversities of nature”.
