The people of the country have a big responsibility to transform India into a developed nation, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has said.
He was inaugurating the Navati (90th anniversary) celebration of the Higher Secondary School (HSS), Chettikulangara, on Sunday.
"We have completed 75 years of Independence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that in the next 25 years we must make renewed efforts with full dedication and commitment to realise the dreams of our great freedom fighters—both known and unknown—who made innumerable sacrifices. They sacrificed everything so that future generations of India live with respect and dignity. We have this duty, the great responsibility to transform India into a developed country. A country where education and other basic amenities are available to everyone," Mr. Khan said.
The Governor said education was the real game changer. "It is the key to freedom, human dignity and respect. We should internalise what we learn and use the knowledge to enlighten others. Long before the renaissance in Europe, India had the reputation of being the knowledge centre of the world. When the knowledge tradition weakened, our society got weakened. As a result, we became prone to all kinds of threats and India lost its freedom. Education is so important that it is called second birth. We must realise how important education is," he said.
Mr. Khan called to transform knowledge into wisdom. "After receiving education, if we do not become different from what we were before when we got into school or university, then our education could not be called a success. Literacy and knowledge are not education. Education means developing the knowledge that we acquire into wisdom. With wisdom, we should be able to develop capability where we can see our own self in others and others in our own self. It gives rise to a sense of compassion and humaneness," the Governor said.
The HSS Chettikulangara was founded by social worker and educationist A.N.P. Nair in 1932. MLAs Ramesh Chennithala and U. Prathibha, former ambassador T.P. Sreenivasan, and others spoke.
