File Photo: President Pranab Mukherjee
Students of XI and XII standard of a Delhi school will have a special class on September 4, the eve of 'Teachers' Day'. They will get lessons from none other than President Pranab Mukherjee.
Mr Mukherjee will be holding a joint class for class XI and XII students of Dr Rajendra Prasad Sarvodhya Vidhalaya at the school which is located in the Presidential Estate.
The students will assemble on the 'Knowledge floor' and listen to their new teacher. Later, the President will address nearly 100 teachers also.
This idea was given by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia to the President, who liked it and gave his consent for the same.
Mr Mukherjee's focus has been on providing quality education and in his address to the nation on the eve of Independence Day earlier this month, he had had laid special emphasis on "guru-shishya" (Teacher-Student) relation.
"...what has happened to quality (education), from base to apex? We recall the guru-shishya parampara with legitimate pride; why then have we abandoned the care, devotion and commitment that is at the heart of this relationship?" he had asked.
He believes that a teacher is like a potter, who, with his soft and skillful hands, moulds the destiny of the student and the society should recognise and find merit and scholarship of the teacher.
"Is that happening in our education system today? Students, teachers and authorities must pause and introspect," he had said in his address.
The President was requested by the Delhi Government under its prestigious programme 'Be a Teacher' in which renowned personalities from different walks of life like art, culture, sports, business, politics and civil services take class for students and inspire kids to achieve excellence in life.
While this is for the first time that any President will don a cap of a teacher on a 'Teachers Day', on earlier occasions Mr Mukherjee and his predecessor APJ Abdul Kalam have been meeting and interacting with students.
September 5 is celebrated as Teachers Day in memory of birth anniversary of former President S Radhakrishnan.