Shimla: Governor Kavinder Gupta conferred the State Teachers’ Awards on 32 teachers and honoured one teacher with the National Award for the year 2025 at a state-level Teachers’ Day function held at Lok Bhavan.
Congratulating the award-winning teachers, the Governor said teachers, parents and students all have an important role in strengthening the education system. He urged teachers to remain sensitive to their responsibility of imparting not only education but also values, saying that effective teaching must contribute to the overall development of students.
Paying tribute to former President, eminent educationist and philosopher Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on his birth anniversary, Gupta said teachers play a crucial role in shaping both the future of students and the nation.
“A teacher does much more than impart textbook knowledge,” the Governor said, stressing that teachers build values, character and confidence while providing direction to students. He said the future of a nation takes shape in classrooms and teachers are instrumental in shaping it.
Highlighting the importance of quality education in nation-building, Gupta said the meaningful participation of youth would be essential to achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat-2047. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had accorded high priority to quality, inclusive and value-based education as the foundation of a strong and developed India.
Referring to the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Governor said education was no longer restricted to examinations and degrees but increasingly focused on knowledge, skills, creativity, innovation, research and character building. He highlighted initiatives such as PM SHRI Schools, NIPUN Bharat, Samagra Shiksha, Digital Education and Atal Tinkering Labs, which are providing students opportunities to develop scientific temper and 21st-century skills.
Gupta said the growing use of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and digital technology had made the role of teachers even more significant. While technology could support the teaching-learning process, he said, the inspiration, guidance, affection and values provided by teachers could not be replaced by technology.
The Governor also lauded Himachal Pradesh’s performance in education, particularly its showing in the PARAKH National Survey. He congratulated teachers and the Education Department for securing the second position nationally in Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN).
He said the implementation of programmes including Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, NIPUN Bharat and PM SHRI was helping promote national unity, creativity, scientific thinking and essential 21st-century skills among students.
Expressing confidence in further progress, Gupta said continued government efforts coupled with the dedication of teachers would help Himachal Pradesh emerge as a leading state in quality, inclusive, innovative and future-ready education.
He said the dedication and commitment of the award-winning teachers were a matter of pride for the entire state. The greatest reward for a teacher, he added, was seeing students remember their teachers throughout their lives and go on to make meaningful contributions to their families, society and the nation.
Education Minister Rohit Thakur welcomed the Governor and said the state government was committed to strengthening the education sector with special emphasis on quality education. Paying tribute to Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Thakur said his life and contribution continued to inspire efforts towards strengthening education.
Thakur said Himachal Pradesh had made significant progress in the education sector and claimed that the state’s literacy rate had reached 100 per cent. He said more than 9,000 appointments had been made in the Education Department by the present government.
English is being introduced from Class I, while efforts are also being made to promote local languages, he said. The Minister added that rationalisation had been undertaken to address staff shortages in educational institutions.
He also highlighted exposure programmes under which students were being taken on educational tours within the country and teachers were being provided opportunities for foreign exposure visits.
Technical Education Minister Rajesh Dharmani congratulated the award-winning teachers and praised their dedication and commitment. He said many teachers had gone beyond their prescribed responsibilities to bring positive changes to the lives of children.
Dharmani suggested that the success stories of such teachers should be documented and shared with others so that they could serve as an inspiration across the education sector. He said teachers had a crucial role in realising the vision of Viksit Bharat and stressed that the next goal should be to develop institutions of excellence.
Earlier, Education Minister Rohit Thakur felicitated Governor Kavinder Gupta on the occasion.
Education Secretary Rakesh Kanwar welcomed the Governor, while Director of School Education Ashish Kohli proposed the vote of thanks.
