Our Correspondent
President Pranab Mukherjee today turned a teacher ahead of the Teacher’s Day being celebrated tomorrow. He taught political history of India to students of class XIth and XII in President Estate and exhorted them to fulfill their aim of life by dint of hard work and dedication.
President also shares his memories as a student.
President Mukherjee talked about India’s major achievements during post independence.
Remembering his childhood days, and on a lighter note the President told students that he was a naughty boy and used to make excuses to his mother for not going to school.
He mentioned about the difference in syllabi when he was in school to the current years school books.
Mr Mukherjee said, establishment of multi-party democratic system with Parliamentary form of government was an important event. Referring to his political career, President Mukherjee said it was because of democracy that he has reached the Raisina Hills.
He said, as a child, development was a road for him and today a road is taken for granted. Replying to a question, Mr Mukherjee said, the basic problem in the country is challenge of poverty and resource constraint and admitted that there is some imbalance in the design of government organs which needs to be corrected.
It was for the first time that Mr Mukherjee addressed the students as a teacher.
The President who holds a Master’s degree in History and Political Science gave lecture on Political and Constitutional history of the country.
While teaching the students, he recalled his early school days when he had to walk miles to reach the school in backward areas of West Bengal.
The President said, India became independent from British rule in 1947 and Constituent Assembly took almost three years to enact and adopt the Constitution on 26th of November 1949.
He said, the Constitution gave people of India opportunity to make own laws. He also spoke about justice, liberty, equality and fraternity guaranteed by the Constitution.
Mr Mukherjee taught students that secular democratic words were added to the Preamble of Indian Constitution by an Amendment in 1975.
The President said teachers are like the soft and skillful hands of a potter. They mould the destiny of thousands of students, in turn shaping the future of a nation. He has met many inspired teachers who are influencing the lives of their students.
The President said teaching as a profession must receive the respect and recognition that it deserves. He lamented that there is dearth of qualified teachers in many Universities and expressed the need to attract the best brains to the teaching profession.