Full marks to Mr. Modi for his speech on “Teacher’s Day”. His rhetoric and oratorical power fascinated most of the children. A “compulsory” address was heard with rapt attention by the large majority except those who yawned incessantly and others who found the need to go to the loo far more often than necessary.
But just as the speech was rich in delivery, the nearly two-hour long interaction didn’t have much substance and was largely anecdotal. Regrettably, it was focused on students when it should have actually been aimed at teachers. On such an eventful day he said nothing about the big issues in education. There was total lack of engagement with teachers and stoic silence on the problems of the education sector that plague modern India. What is more, he missed the core issues that would have been so very relevant on Teacher’s day.
Modi’s lack of regard for teachers’ woes was palpable. It would have been great if the PM had spoken about teacher expectations and the quality and problems of teaching. Besides there was no vision document for the improvement of the education system in India as a whole.
What worries us most is that analysts feel that the mellow speech under consideration was just a dress-rehearsal. The worse is yet to come. By sounding polite and non-controversial this time there’s every possibility that he will coerce the impressionable students on the next occasion to give them a dose of his favourite Hindutva ideology.
