On Teacher’s Day, President Murmu pitches ‘3-H’ formula for students

President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday said that it is the duty of teachers as well as the parents to recognise the unique abilities of each child and help them in developing those abilities with sensitivity.

The President was addressing the ceremony of the National Teachers’ Award 2022 where she presented awards to 75 teachers for their remarkable contributions in the field of education. The event was organised on the occasion of Teachers’ Day that is celebrated on September 5 to mark the birthday of first Vice-President of India Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.

In her address, the president said that parents hand over their children to teachers with great trust and desire that they get special attention and treated with affection. “It is the duty of the teachers as well as the parents to recognise the unique abilities of each child and help the child to develop those abilities with sensitivity…It is a great privilege for every teacher to get the opportunity to share love among 40-50 children in a class,” she said.

The President said that teachers build the future of the nation. “Quality education is considered the fundamental right of every child and the role of teachers is the most important in achieving these goals. The importance of teachers as nation-builders has also been clearly stated in the National Education Policy 2020,” she said.

Highlighting the importance of elementary education, the President highlighted the “three-H formula” for the balanced development of children. She said that the three-H stand for heart, head and hand.

“Heart is related to sensitivity, human values, strength of character and morality. Head or brain is related to mental development, reasoning power and reading and the hand is related to respect for manual skills and physical labour. All-round development of children would be possible only by emphasising on such a holistic approach,” she said.

The President further said that everyone remembers their teacher and stressed that giving love and affection is more important than giving them knowledge. “..The praise, encouragement or punishment that children get from teachers remains in their memories. If children are punished with the intention of improvement in them, they realise it later,” she said.

The President mentioned Charak, Sushruta, Aryabhata, Pokhran and Chandrayaan-3, and said that our teachers and students take inspiration from them and think big and work for the bright future of the nation.

She also stressed on the importance of more female teachers receiving awards in order to increase their participation in the profession. “Encouraging female students and teachers is very important for women empowerment,” she said.

For the first time, the ministry has expanded the ambit of these awards and brought teachers from higher education and skill education under it. The winners had also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.

The winners included Arti Qanungo from Delhi, Chetna Khambete from Madhya Pradesh, Mujib Rehman from Kerala, Asiya Farooqui from Uttar Pradesh, Sunita Singh from Odisha, and Sheela Asopa from Rajasthan, among others.