Teachers should be compassionate while administering discipline in school to enrich students with good habits, positive attitude and the skillsets required besides theoretical knowledge, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police (Vellore range) M.S. Muthusamy said here on Friday.
Mr. Muthusamy was delivering the inaugural address at the 13th annual felicitation event organised by the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) at its campus on Friday to laud the heads of the government and government-aided schools that secured 100% pass percentage in the board examinations for 2022-23 in Vellore, Ranipet and Tirupattur districts. The DIG dubbed teachers as “crisis interventionists” who are instrumental in moulding the character of students during their school days.
“Your (teachers’) role is not just to impart knowledge through classroom learning. You are the makers of the future of the society,” the DIG told the teachers attending the event. “Teachers, with the advent of mobile phones and social media platforms, have become cautious of going the extra mile to correct the mistakes of students as they fear backlash from parents and the society. Such fear among teachers is unwarranted,” he said.
“Teachers should not hold any pre-conceived notion about students based on language, caste or status. They should be open-minded. Good teachers will not be punished by foisting false cases against them,” the DIG said.
The heads of 68 government and government-aided schools from the three districts were felicitated at the event. A cash award of ₹5,000 was awarded to each of the schools. Founder-Chancellor of VIT G. Viswanathan said 50 smart boards of the institute will be given free of cost for the felicitated government schools on first-come, first-serve basis. Free training will also be provided to teachers at VIT to operate the smart boards, Mr. Viswanathan said.
In his presidential address, he urged the Union and the State governments to increase the allocation of funds for education (under the Concurrent List) from the existing three per cent of GDP to six per cent for improved rural student enrolment.
At least 35 countries provide free education up to the university level, while countries such as Germany, France, Norway, Sweden and Denmark extend free education to foreign students.
Mr. Viswanathan said inadequate allocation of funds for education has only increased the financial burden of parents, especially those whose wards are enrolled in private schools. On an average, parents spend between ₹50,000 and ₹1,00,000 on school education every year. Only government intervention can change the situation, the Chancellor said. Chief Educational Officer (Vellore) S. Manimozhi, vice-presidents of VIT Sankar Viswanathan and G.V. Selvam were present.
