The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented National Awards to meritorious teachers from across the country at a function held at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi today (September 5, 2016) on the occasion of Teachers’ Day.

On the occasion, the President congratulated the distinguished teachers who had been bestowed with the prestigious National Teachers Awards for their excellence and performance and the manner in which they had instilled skills in their students and made them ready to face the challenges of life. He conveyed his ‘Guru Pranam’ to all teachers on Teachers’ Day.

The President said that the Teachers’ Day is celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of former President Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan who was a great scholar and educationist. Quoting Dr. Radhakrishnan he said, "You cannot make or build the nation by just bricks; you have to establish the minds of young people and then alone can the nation building take place”.

The President said that the Guru-Shishya paramparais integral to our ancient civilization. In ancient days, the Guru's parting advice to students was that they should be truthful, virtuous and not deviate from their conviction. He said that as Visitor to institutions of higher learning, he had repeatedly stressed on the need to focus on improving the quality of education. He said that unless we build a knowledge society we cannot find our rightful place in the comity of nations.

The President said that if the foundation is not strong, the structure built on it cannot be strong. Teachers thus have a crucial social responsibility during the formative years of the children. In ancient India, for a long period of time, India was a leading centre of higher education and ancient Universities like Nalanda, Taxila etc used to attract mighty minds. This position needs to be revived.

This release issued at 1825 hrs.