The Hindu : Front Page : Make education relevant to tackle child labour: President

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 06, 2007
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Make education relevant to tackle child labour: President

Special Correspondent

“Education should strengthen values of democracy, secularism and pluralism”

Revamp vocational education to make it more attractive
Teachers must keep themselves abreast of new technologies

— Photo: Sandeep Saxena

Recognition: President Pratibha Patil presents teachers award to Sidhnath Verma from the Government Navin Girls Middle School, Jabalpur, in New Delhi on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on Wednesday said laws alone would not help free India from the “curse of child labour.”

Addressing a function organised here to present national awards to teachers on Teachers Day, she said the problem of child labour could be addressed by making education more relevant.

To fight social evils

Besides making out a case for inculcating life skills along with school skills, the President said it was also necessary to prepare children to fight social evils such as child marriage, gender inequality, addiction and other social stigmas.

For strengthening democracy

Also, the education system should strengthen the values of secularism, democracy, inclusiveness and pluralism.

The President devoted considerable attention to vocational education.

Ms. Patil said the Indian reality was such that many children were not able to pursue higher studies after basic schooling.

Such being the case, vocational education needed to be revamped so that it became an attractive option.

Inadequate quality

“The unemployment of vocational school-leavers reflects the inadequate quality of vocational education and also our vocational teacher preparation,” she said.

Ms. Patil urged teachers to keep themselves abreast of new technologies to help children deal with the challenges they faced owing to exposure to varied influences via television and internet.

Teachers should help children differentiate right from wrong, truth from untruth and correct from the incorrect, the President said.

Awards for 314

The President presented awards to 314 teachers from across the country for the year 2005-06.

Among the awardees were 11 Sanskrit teachers, three teachers of Arabic and Persian, and 12 teachers dedicated to promoting education among children with disabilities.

The award carries a silver medal, a certificate and a cash component of Rs. 25,000.

“Reduce drop-out rates”

Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development M. A. A. Fatmi underlined the need to reduce drop-out rates at various levels.

This is to improve learning outcomes and prepare students for higher stages of education, he said.

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