Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged teachers to work with parents to address the growing concern of excessive screen time among children and encourage them to develop interests in sports, physical games and creative activities. The Prime Minister made the remarks while interacting with the winners of the National Teachers Awards at his residence at Lok Kalyan Marg on Friday.
Highlighting the issue of screen time, PM Modi said it has become a major concern. He urged teachers to speak to parents about the amount of time children spend on screens and whether they continue using mobile phones late at night. He suggested that children could gradually reduce excessive screen use by developing an interest in sports, physical games and creative activities.
This year, 82 teachers and educators have been selected for the National Teachers Awards from three departments. These include 48 teachers from the Department of School Education and Literacy, 21 teachers and faculty members from Higher Educational Institutions and Polytechnics, and 13 skill trainers from the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
During the interaction, the awardees shared experiences and innovations that have shaped their teaching journeys, including several creative approaches adopted to make classroom learning more engaging and effective.
Prime Minister Modi emphasised that teachers need to look beyond the academic performance of children and remain attentive to their behaviour and everyday lives. Referring to the decline of the traditional joint family set-up, he said teachers have an increasingly important role to play in the lives of children.
Referring to the issue of drugs, the Prime Minister called upon teachers to remain alert to changes in children, identify the causes and help them overcome the habit.
The Prime Minister also said that preserving the innocence of childhood is an important role that teachers can play. He noted that children share the same basic nature and curiosity, and said that if teachers nurture and appropriately channel this curiosity, they can make a significant contribution to their development.
Referring to the National Education Policy, Prime Minister Modi stressed the importance of taking children beyond the classroom and connecting them with real-world skills and different forms of work. He also called upon teachers to go beyond imparting knowledge from the syllabus and help inculcate values such as the dignity of labour among children.
—PIB
