Chief minister Yogi Adityanath took political potshots at the Samajwadi Party during a Teachers’ Day felicitation event in Gorakhpur on Saturday, saying that if it had spent the Saifai Mahotsav money on education when in power, the future of millions of children would have been secured.
Contrasting the previous government’s stance on education with his regime’s approach, he said, “We allocated over ₹1,500 crore solely for the dilapidated buildings of secondary schools. This could have been done even before 2017. Those who failed to deliver are the ones raising questions now; the country is witnessing the ‘Uttar Pradesh Model’ and the transformation taking place today.”
He also said that smart classes were helping erase the divide between the cities and villages, while digital libraries were bridging the gap between the rich and the poor.
“If the SP had spent the money on education, instead of celebrating birthdays by ordering a chariot from Birmingham, the future of children would have been improved. Likewise, if they had used the Saifai Mahotsav money to improve the face of schools, the education system would have improved,” the chief minister said.
“Very recently, someone posted a video of an old worn-out school building of Nagpur, projecting it as a school in Jhansi. This is how people engaged in social media are tarnishing the image of the state government-run schools in UP,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“Very recently, someone posted a video of an old worn-out school building of Nagpur, projecting it as a school in Jhansi. This is how people engaged in social media are tarnishing the image of the state government-run schools in UP,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“Before 2017, schools had become hubs for cheating, contracts for mass copying were rampant. Such schools have now been shut down as examination centres. The underlying reason for this was to restore respect for teachers,” he added.
“When we took office in 2017, Shiksha Mitras (para-teachers) received an honorarium of ₹3,000; today, they receive ₹18,000. The honorarium for instructors was raised to ₹17,000, and they are also provided with cashless medical treatment coverage of ₹5 lakh,” he added.
During the felicitation ceremony held at Yogiraj Baba Gambhirnath Auditorium, the chief minister was scheduled to present awards on stage to only 10 teachers selected for the State Teacher Award, including five from the basic education department and five from the secondary education department. However, when the presentation began, the chief minister told officials that he would respect the sentiments of all 81 selected teachers and personally honour each one. Thereafter, following the first 10 teachers as per the original schedule, he invited the remaining 71 teachers onto the stage and personally presented awards to them as well.
He presented the award-winning teachers with a citation certificate and a symbolic cheque of ₹25,000 as prize money. Minister of state (independent charge) for secondary education Gulab Devi and minister of state (independent charge) for basic education Sandeep Singh were present. Later, all award-winning teachers were also presented with an idol of Goddess Saraswati.
The state-level award-winning teachers will receive free travel of 4,000 kilometers annually on UPSRTC buses for the rest of their lives. In addition, their retirement age will be extended by two years.