Schoolchildren across state subjected to an hour of compulsory ‘Moditalk’ today
It seems that Dr S Radhakrishnan, the second President of India and one of the country’s greatest teachers, will have to take a backseat in Gujarat this Teacher's Day. The state government has decided that what millions of schoolchildren across Gujarat actually need on September 5, is an hour of very compulsory 'Moditalk.'
For this purpose, Chief Minister Narendra Modi will go live on air at 11 am on Friday. All students in every school in the state have been strictly asked to watch and listen to him on the TV sets specially arranged in their respective schools. This mandatory directive means that school children will not be able to become “ek din ka guru” whereby students taking up the responsibility of teaching as an appreciation for their teachers.
A teacher said on condition of anonymity: “The Government is not only robbing the children of their genuine right to celebrate the day in their own traditional way, but is also indulging in projecting the Chief Minister to uninterested minds.”
The order has also put school authorities in a fix. School principals in all public and private schools have been asked to arrange for TV sets on their personal responsibility in the ratio of one TV set for every 100 students. They have also been asked to arrange for TV cable connection as the CM’s speech will be telecast live on DD 11 from the Town Hall in Gandhinagar. Local civic councillors have been directed to set up TV sets in the municipal schools that fall under their respective wards, even though some of them have expressed the difficulty in arranging the same. Once the speech is over, the schools will have to file a compliance report.
The students will also be made to take an oath on the occasion by Modi. A copy of the pledge has been dispatched to all schools and the principals have been asked to distribute photocopies to the students so that they can read the oath correctly when the Chief Minister administers the same to them. This, in turn, means an additional expenditure on the school principals, who will have to take out hundreds of photocopies at their own expense.
Authorities at the Delhi Public School said that they had not received any such circular, which, according to them, means that the order was issued only to schools which come under the Gujarat Board.
Meanwhile, Doordarshan Kendra officials have confirmed that the programme is being telecast as part of a “routine commercial deal'” with the state government.
Asarwa Congress councillor Shantaben Panchal, however, criticised the move, saying that it amounts to cheap publicit.
“We have never seen any Chief Minister in the past seeking publicity in such a way. This will not only ruin a day’s study for the students, but also waste their time,” she said.
She said that even if school authorities somehow manage to arrange TV sets, getting a cable connection just for an hour would turn out to be an extremely expensive proposition.
Courtesy : www.expressindia.com
It seems that Dr S Radhakrishnan, the second President of India and one of the country’s greatest teachers, will have to take a backseat in Gujarat this Teacher's Day. The state government has decided that what millions of schoolchildren across Gujarat actually need on September 5, is an hour of very compulsory 'Moditalk.'
For this purpose, Chief Minister Narendra Modi will go live on air at 11 am on Friday. All students in every school in the state have been strictly asked to watch and listen to him on the TV sets specially arranged in their respective schools. This mandatory directive means that school children will not be able to become “ek din ka guru” whereby students taking up the responsibility of teaching as an appreciation for their teachers.
A teacher said on condition of anonymity: “The Government is not only robbing the children of their genuine right to celebrate the day in their own traditional way, but is also indulging in projecting the Chief Minister to uninterested minds.”
The order has also put school authorities in a fix. School principals in all public and private schools have been asked to arrange for TV sets on their personal responsibility in the ratio of one TV set for every 100 students. They have also been asked to arrange for TV cable connection as the CM’s speech will be telecast live on DD 11 from the Town Hall in Gandhinagar. Local civic councillors have been directed to set up TV sets in the municipal schools that fall under their respective wards, even though some of them have expressed the difficulty in arranging the same. Once the speech is over, the schools will have to file a compliance report.
The students will also be made to take an oath on the occasion by Modi. A copy of the pledge has been dispatched to all schools and the principals have been asked to distribute photocopies to the students so that they can read the oath correctly when the Chief Minister administers the same to them. This, in turn, means an additional expenditure on the school principals, who will have to take out hundreds of photocopies at their own expense.
Authorities at the Delhi Public School said that they had not received any such circular, which, according to them, means that the order was issued only to schools which come under the Gujarat Board.
Meanwhile, Doordarshan Kendra officials have confirmed that the programme is being telecast as part of a “routine commercial deal'” with the state government.
Asarwa Congress councillor Shantaben Panchal, however, criticised the move, saying that it amounts to cheap publicit.
“We have never seen any Chief Minister in the past seeking publicity in such a way. This will not only ruin a day’s study for the students, but also waste their time,” she said.
She said that even if school authorities somehow manage to arrange TV sets, getting a cable connection just for an hour would turn out to be an extremely expensive proposition.
Courtesy : www.expressindia.com