GUWAHATI, Sept 3 - As part of its efforts to celebrate Teacher�s Day in the true sense of the word and make it a meaningful event that can help cement teacher-student ties, the education department has come up with an elaborate programme to mark the occasion.
It is also for the first time that Teacher�s Day will be celebrated on two days, September 4 and 5, and the occasion will involve not just school students, but college students as well.
Addressing the media, Education Minister Sarat Borkotoky today said that the department had in fact launched an awareness drive involving wide publicity through different media such as newspapers, website (www.lets-celebrate-teachersday-together, which was launched on August 5 for the purpose), etc., a month back.
�Celebration of Teacher�s Day has been a lackadaisical event for decades, but we want to make it an occasion with a difference. For this, we have taken up a number of measures for ensuring spontaneous and widespread participation of students in the event. This time, the occasion would not be restricted to schools alone, but be taken across colleges and universities as well,� Barkotoky said.
A song for the purpose that pays homage to the teaching fraternity has been composed by Principal Secretary, Education, Pawan Kumar Barthakur, who also addressed the press conference.
The education department has also requested all the educational institutions of the State to honour their retired teachers. �If some of the retired teachers are not in a position to attend the function due to ill health, students and teachers of the school will visit his/her house for the purpose,� Barthakur said.
On the occasion, one hundred teachers (85 teachers from schools that have shown exceptionally good results and 15 State awardee teachers) will be felicitated at the Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra at 4 pm on September 4. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi will also interact with the teachers. This will be followed by a cultural programme from 6 pm.
The next day - i.e., on the Teacher�s Day - the central function will start in the GMCH auditorium at 11 am, where Mihir Kanti Choudhury, Vice Chancellor of Tezpur University will be the appointed speaker.
Another highlight of the occasion will be the release of a special souvenir which will feature a hundred articles by a hundred distinguished citizens of the State, paying homage to their teachers.
