Former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi and Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia calls for higher teacher salaries to build a developed India by 2047 and emphasises the crucial role of teachers in shaping India’s future.
As the chief guest, he urged that teachers’ salaries surpass those of IAS officers and Cabinet Secretaries, citing international examples of developed countries to stress that elevating the status of educators is key to achieving a developed India by 2047.
Chief guest Sisodia, along with other dignitaries, inaugurated the ‘Nigam Shikshak Samman Samaroh, 2024′ on Teachers’ Day at the Civic Centre by lighting the ceremonial lamp.
The event began with the national song, ‘Vande Mataram’, followed by a welcome speech from the Additional Commissioner of the Corporation.
The children then captivated the audience with a cultural performance. The program was presided over by MCD Mayor Shelly Oberoi, with Deputy Mayor Aaley Mohammad Iqbal, and Leader of the House Mukesh Goyal attending as special guests.
At the ‘Shikshak Samman Samaroh’, CM Manish Sisodia addressed the audience of teachers, and said “I extend my heartfelt thanks and respect to all the teachers present here. Wishing you all a very happy Teacher’s Day.”
Manish Sisodia, said, “For the past 15-20 days, I have been extremely busy. I always looked forward to Teacher’s Day during my tenure as Education Minister for 8-9 years, and I treated this day like a personal celebration. The day before yesterday, I received a call from Shelly Oberoi asking if I could make time for this event. I couldn’t resist and made every effort to be here with you on this important day.”
He continued, “It is my privilege to honour teachers on Teacher’s Day. It is, in fact, the reverse. By honouring a teacher, we feel that we are being given the honour. To stand on stage and hand over an award to a teacher may seem like a small gesture, but being able to do so on Teacher’s Day is the greatest honour one can receive.”
“I stand here today with pride, feeling fortunate that I have been given the opportunity, thanks to all of you, to honour some of our teachers. It is a matter of great pride for me,” said the former Delhi Education Minister.
Manish Sisodia further added that so much has been written and said about teachers in poetry and programs–they are truly amazing. When I speak of a teacher, I don’t only refer to those who teach but also to those who teach us how to learn. A teacher’s role is not limited to imparting knowledge and leaving us to figure out the rest. They teach us how to keep learning throughout life. This is why teachers hold such a crucial place in our lives.
“A doctor may treat a wound or an ailment, and once it is healed, we return to our normal activities. Similarly, a lawyer, a manager, or a journalist handles specific areas of our lives. But a teacher touches every aspect of life, all 360 degrees of it, and continues to influence us at every moment,” shared Manish Sisodia.
The former Education Minister mentioned, “There will never be a moment in life where I live in a way that hasn’t been influenced by what my teachers taught me. Until my last breath, I will continue to learn, and I will learn in the way my teachers taught me. This is why Teacher’s Day holds such great significance for me.”
The former Deputy CM shared, “Today, I have been given the opportunity to be here and share my thoughts. Over the past year and a half, I have faced some of the most challenging times of my life. However, I never found them to be truly difficult because, even when I used to sleep on a newspaper at Jantar Mantar during protests, I didn’t feel it was a struggle. In jail, too, I had a fan and a small cell, so it didn’t seem too hard.”
He further added that there were obstacles in the work he was doing here, and he mentions this because when we are in good conditions, we remember the lessons you taught us. But it is during difficult and trying times that your teachings are remembered the most. Especially the social and age group you deal with–teachers of 12th graders may not see immediate results from teaching mathematics, but the lessons taught by primary teachers are invaluable throughout life.
“Calculus may not have helped me, but the foundational education given in primary school has always been useful, especially in both good and tough times. This makes your role even more important to me. When I faced a difficult situation, I saw it as an opportunity. My teachers had taught me how to read, and since I didn’t have much time for reading in my political life, I embraced this challenge and spent the past year and a half reading a lot,” mentioned Manish Sisodia.
The former Deputy CM said that we look at history through the lens of war and economy, but we should also look at it through the history of education. Then only can we progress. The foundation is in your hands right now. The person who’s going to be 30-35 in 2047 is in school right now. You are shaping the India of 2047. I want to thank you all for truly constructing India.
He said, “A teacher is the pilot of a child’s life. We politicians or bureaucrats are just the facilitators. You are the pilots of 2047’s India. In my research, I have observed that the nations we aspire towards, all have teachers at their foundation. Education is at its foundation. I am not advocating for their education policies but just for reference, we would have to look at the world through the eyes of the history of education.”
The former Education Minister shared, “America, of whom the world talks about for its progress, was aiming towards enrolment of all girls in education in 1890. India started aiming for universal education around 1911. Singapore was a newly independent and poor country just 60 years ago with no natural resources. Its PM decided to make Singapore an educated country and left what’s next after they’ve achieved this level of education. They had a policy that could be debated and was radical. They gave incentives to graduate mothers and less educated women. As a result, more women got into education. The children of these educated parents are the new Singapore. Any country that we call progressive and aspire to go to for work or education, has teachers at its core.”
Manish Sisodia also highlighted a trend in developed countries where teachers are paid more than administrators.
“Using the Indian context, a teacher’s pay scale in a progressive country is more than an IAS. We often tell teachers that it’s in their hands to shape the future of the country, but we policymakers also have to do our part. In Germany, a teacher’s average annual income is approximately Rs72 lakhs and the bureaucrats are paid Rs71 lakhs on average. It’s similar in Switzerland. Those countries are ahead because they invest in teachers. In India, teachers are paid Rs12-15 lakhs and we need to do something about it,” he added.
“If we want to build 2047’s India and we expect from teachers that it will begin from the classrooms, then we have to make a resolve that the teachers in our country are paid more than any bureaucrat. We have to make this rule either now or sometime later but we have to. I am not suggesting that teachers must be made district magistrates, that is for the IAS since they come with that qualification. But a teacher who’s been teaching for five years should be paid more than an IAS who becomes a DM in five years,” the Ex Deputy CM said.
Manish Sisodia mentioned that he didn’t have the internet but he asked his team for books about education in the world and he researched. In India, the ‘guru’ (teacher) comes before the god, and he said it’s a uniquely Indian concept and he couldn’t find it anywhere else in the world.
“India also should send this message to the world that we don’t just sing these hymns but we put teachers before God in reality. And the teachers’ salaries should also reflect that. It would also incentivise more students who look for high-paying jobs to become teachers,” he added.
The former Deputy Chief Minister said that everyone is talking about a developed India in 2047 and that can not happen without giving this respect to the teachers, which is reflected in our culture, as well as in the balance sheet. Then no one can stop India from becoming a developed country.
Meanwhile, Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi said that teachers give proper guidance to children so that they bring glory to the country in future.
“Students studying in MCD schools come from middle-class or poor families. Many children’s parents are also not educated. Therefore, MCD teachers have to take care of the children as well as their parents. For the last one-two years, we have been organizing Mega PTMs,” Oberoi said.
The Delhi Mayor shared, “I went to these PTMs and talked to many parents. Our teachers also counsel the parents of the children and explain to them the importance of children’s education. The work of teachers is not limited to only imparting knowledge of subjects. Your struggle and dedication are much bigger. Teachers also teach moral values and integrity along with the social and personal development of children. Children listen to teachers quickly. Therefore, when the foundation of a child is being prepared, a teacher teaches him right and wrong.”
Shelly Oberoi further added that just as there has been a revolution in education in Delhi’s government schools under the leadership of CM Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, we want to bring a similar revolution in MCD schools. Till now MCD schools and its teachers were ignored. The salaries of the teachers of MCD schools did not come on time. Therefore, our biggest objective was that your salaries should come on time. In which we have succeeded. Now all the teachers are getting their salaries on time.
“Many batches of our principals have been sent for training to IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Kozhikode, Kerala. Today we have more than 1500 schools in Delhi, in which thousands of teachers are teaching. Last year, we passed a proposal in the House that now the teachers of MCD schools should be sent abroad for training. We will try to send the first batch of teachers abroad soon. It was only with the help of the Delhi government that our teachers were able to go for training. We stand with you in the times to come as well,” mentioned the Delhi Mayor.
On Teachers’ Day, Delhi Manish Sisodia honoured the teachers and principals of MCD schools who performed excellently. Principals of MCD schools Brajesh Kumar Jadoun, Meenakshi Trehan, Raj Rani, Anita Rani, Mohammad Azam Khan, Meenu Agarwal, Seema Rani, Nisha Gautam, Shruti Dhingra, Neeru Bala Sachdeva and Rahul Kumar were honoured.
Also, primary school teachers Kamlesh Rani, Aarti Rani, Meena Devi, Sachin, Vaishali Chaddha, Ritu Tyagi, Shilpa, Neelam, Deepak Yadav, Hitesh, Mukesh Kumar, Reena Devi, Vaishali Jain, Deepika, Ruby Gupta, Ekta Shridhar, Monica Rawat, Santosh Kumar Bairwa, Savita Panchal, Rakesh Kumar, Seema Panwar, Ajay Kumar Gupta, Ritu, Beena, Smriti, Nisha Munjal, Pankaj, Jyoti, Sushila, Poonam Beriwal, Neha Mahalwal, Annu Tyagi, Neetu Goyal, Mukesh Kumar, Beena, Anju Rana, Renu, Mamta Pingolia, Sonia, Pinky, Geeta Gera, Anju Garg, Rajni Rani, Virendra Mukhija, Sandesh, Bharti Modi, Amit Dabas, Meenakshi, Devendra Kumar Sharma, Richa, Dharmendra Kumar, Anuja Gulati, Meenakshi Kumari, Gurpreet Kaur, Pappi Kumar, Ravinder Kumar, Sarla Singh, Fauzia Begum, Mandeep, Anju Rana, Preeti Sharma, Monica, Sunayana, Ashok Kumar and nursery teachers Anu Khatri, Geeta Arora, Kanchan Sharma, Shweta Tuli and Swati Rani were felicitated.
Apart from this, mentors Devendra Rana, Shipra Sharma, Vishal Bansal, Sanjeev and special teacher Nidhi Malhotra were also awarded. (ANI)
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