Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday said the State has become the first in the country to provide free education from kindergarten to postgraduate level, while reiterating the government’s commitment to fill 45,000 teacher vacancies within the next three years.
Addressing a Teachers’ Day celebration at the Secondary Board High School in Kataka, Majhi interacted with students and urged them to focus on their studies and career development instead of spending excessive time on social media.
The Chief Minister advised students to avoid distractions and misinformation on social media and pursue their education with dedication and concentration. “As students, your first responsibility is to study well, acquire skills and contribute to your own development as well as the development of the country,” Majhi said, stressing that education should prepare young people to build successful careers and contribute to society.
Highlighting the importance of teachers, Majhi said education is not merely about imparting knowledge but is a process of shaping individuals. “Education is not only the imparting of knowledge; it is a great process of building human beings,” he said.
He also emphasised the importance of a friendly relationship between teachers and students in the present era and encouraged students to seek the blessings and guidance of their parents and teachers.
Paying tribute to former President and renowned educationist Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on his birth anniversary, Majhi spoke about the significance of the traditional guru-shishya relationship in Indian culture.
He cited the role of teachers in shaping personalities ranging from Lord Rama and Lord Krishna to Chandragupta Maurya and Swami Vivekananda. He also recalled former President and ‘Missile Man’ Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, who considered it an honour to identify himself first as a teacher despite holding the country’s highest constitutional office.
Speaking about the state government’s efforts to reform the education sector, Majhi highlighted the KG-to-PG free education initiative, saying Odisha has become the first state in India to make education free from Shishu Vatika through postgraduate level.
He said the government is constructing 2,200 Godabarish Mishra Model Primary Schools at an estimated cost of Rs 12,000 crore. Around 45,000 Shishu Vatikas have also been opened for pre-school children.
The government has also extended mid-day meals and textbooks to students of Classes IX and X and introduced the Shaheed Madho Singh Hasta Kharcha Yojana for tribal students, he said.
Majhi reiterated the government’s commitment to filling 45,000 teacher positions over the next three years to strengthen the education system. The Chief Minister praised the role of Panchasakha Shiksha Setu in the integrated transformation of schools by involving alumni and other stakeholders.
He said institutions such as the Secondary Board High School in Cuttack take pride in their distinguished alumni, including former MLA Lalitendu Bidyadhar Mahapatra and former Finance Minister Panchanan Kanungo.
Majhi called for collective efforts involving teachers’ knowledge, students’ talent, alumni experience and public participation to build a strong, prosperous and self-reliant Odisha.
During the Teachers’ Day celebration, Majhi felicitated and honoured Ashok Kumar Satapathy, Kumudini, Shakuntala Mohanty, Daitari Sahu and Jayanti Majhi for their dedicated contribution to teaching and shaping the future of students.
The Chief Minister said these exemplary teachers have played an important role in carrying forward the institution’s proud tradition.
The event was attended by Mahanaga MLA Sarada Prasad Pradhan, Kataka Sadar MLA Prakash Chandra Sethi, Choudwar-Cuttack MLA Souvic Biswal, Banki MLA Devi Ranjan Tripathy, School and Mass Education Department Commissioner-cum-Secretary Dr N. Thirumala Naik, Kataka Collector Shinde Dattatraya Bhausaheb, Board of Secondary Education President Srikanta Tarai, school headmaster Ashok Kumar Satapathy, teachers, students and alumni.
Comments are closed.