Private schools against PM initiative

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative to reach out to every student through TV, radio and the Internet on Teachers’ Day has failed to enthuse private schools of Delhi which feel that “forcing” them to make arrangements for it will dampen the celebration of the occasion.

The directorate of education ( DoE) of the Delhi government has issued a notification directing all private as well as government schools to organise a broadcast of the Prime Minister’s address and a Question and Answer session with schoolchildren through television or through Internet from 3 pm to 4.45 pm on September 5.

The directive clearly states that, “Any laxity in the arrangements shall be viewed seriously.”

The DoE notification came following an order by ministry of human resources development that all the schools throughout the country will have to make arrangements so that students can watch the Prime Minister’s live address on TV.

The government directive asked all head of schools to make available the requisite number of televisions, set- top box connections, projectors, screens, amplifiers and generator sets or inverters on hiring basis, if these are not available in the schools.

Though a number of private schools termed the initiative as “good and positive”, they feel making the necessary arrangements for showing the address to the students will put lot of burden on the teachers and they will not be able to celebrate the day.

“It’s a good initiative on the part of Prime Minister to bond with students and also take efforts to enhance the image of teachers in the eyes of students.

“But Teachers’ Day is a special day for the teacher’s to enjoy. So though it is a good initiative, teachers will end up spending the entire day to ensure implementation of the government directive,” said Ameeta Mulla Wattal, principal of Spring Dales, Pusa road.

Madhulika Sen, Principal of Tagore International school, Vasant Vihar, said many private schools will find it difficult to make the arrangements for showing PM’s address to the students. “The main concern is getting all the students assembled at one place and then making them listen to the PM. We have two auditoriums so we would be able to manage. But what about the smaller private schools,” Sen asked. She, however, said the initiative is a good one to get connected with students.