Give emphasis on quality education: Ramanath Rai

Mangalore, Jun 8: The new auditorium and office building of Government Teacher's Training College was inaugurated, near Town Hall in Mangalore on Saturday by B Ramanath Rai, Minister for Forests and Environment and district in-charge minister, DK.

Speaking at the formal inauguration programme, Mr. Rai said that provision of social security and creation of a harassment-free society is possible only through quality education. Citing the example of Russia, he said that the first thing the new government did after rooting out the Czar rule post-revolution was to impart quality education for all which helped a country stricken by poverty during Revolution days get transformed into a super power later. The Government of India has also been paying a lot of attention to education and schemes such as Literacy Mission and Sarva Shikshana Abhiyana have been successes, he claimed.

Ramarao H S, Director, DSERT, Bangalore, echoed the minister's remarks about the government working in the direction of enhancing education standards not just at primary level but at teachers' level too. Newer subjects and areas of study have been implemented in B.Ed and D.Ed courses, he said, pointing out that a number of changes have taken place in teacher training activities. The Central government is implementing Revised Teacher Education Plan and sanctioned Rs. 56 crore for the purpose last year. This time, the government is expected to sanction Rs.200 crore for Teachers' Education, he said.

J R Lobo, MLA, Mangalore South, in his presidential address urged the teachers in the making to have a student friendly approach and not create robots out of students, burdening them with too acute academic activity. Mr. Lobo pointed out that too much emphasis is being given to computer education and the like in schools while areas such as horticulture, agriculture, veterinary disciplines etc are not being incorporated in studies as a result of which children coming from rural areas are not getting a chance to excel in what they are good at. It is this pro-urban approach in education that is resulting in widespread migration of people from rural areas to cities and continual underdevelopment of rural areas, the MLA opined.