APJ Abdul Kalam urges teachers to be role model for students

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam on Friday called upon teachers to love their profession and be role model for the students.

A teacher is a beacon light that acts as a lighthouse to guide the stranded students in the sea of life, he said.

Kalam was speaking at Satya Bharti School, run by Bharti Foundation, at Sherpur Kalan, 45 km from here.

The former President said a teacher's life is a living message for his students to work hard in the service of the country. He said teachers should work as the role model for their students in order to achieve the all-round development of the children.

Kalam administered an 11-point oath to the teachers present there, including that they will love their profession, do the most for the youth who can work as a powerful resource for the country and remain fully committed to the great mission of teaching.

Kalam also interacted with the students of the school and saw an exhibition organised by them.

Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Co-chairman of Bharti Foundation, said to mark the importance of the oath in perpetuity, it will be signed by all teachers of 254 schools throughout the country on Teachers Day every year.

Mittal said his organisation has taken a major initiative 'Satya Bharti Abhiyan' to improve sanitation facilities in rural households of Punjab.

Under the initiative, the foundation has decided to adopt Ludhiana district, the home district of the founder of the Bharati Telecom Group, as its focus area.

As part of this programme, the foundation will invest Rs 100 crore in constructing toilets over the next three years, reaching out to every rural household lacking the facility in the district, Mittal said.

Later, Kalam also visited the Satpaul Mittal School and BCM School at Ludhiana.