Vice President Mr. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday called for imparting values-based education to children with emphasis on Indian culture and heritage.
Naidu emphasized that education is for empowerment, enlightenment and employment and not just for acquiring degrees and certificates. Lamenting the commercialization of education, Naidu said education and medicine were treated as missions in ancient times.
“Education should produce socially conscious and responsible citizens who will selflessly strive for the greater good of society and the country. No one will remember that if you love yourself, but you will become immortal if you live for others, then you will live long in the memory of others,” he added.
Naidu was attending the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Sri Patibandla Seetharamaiah High School, Guntur. Addressing students, teachers and parents, the Vice President stressed the importance of holistic education saying that equal attention should be given to physical fitness and activities like gardening.
He reiterated the need to prioritize teaching in the mother tongue and it is important to master one’s mother tongue while learning other languages.
Expressing his concern over the decline of values in society, Naidu called on people to elect and support public representatives with 4 Cs” – character, ability, (good) conduct and caliber. He also stressed the need for public representatives of the people to show discipline and commitment to the welfare of the people.
The Vice President said he wanted to see India as a strong and powerful nation, where “there is no hunger, no illiteracy and no discrimination”.
He also visited Annamayya Library in Guntur, which has a rich collection of two lakh books, some of them rare, on widely varying subjects.
Every village, Naidu said, must have a library and called for instilling reading habits in children from an early age.
