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Journalism of Courage
This Teachers Day,students of government schools in Madhya Pradesh will wash the senior-most teachers feet to show their respect. The ritual is being revived after a gap of one year in the BJP-ruled state.
In 2007,the then education minister Laxman Singh Gaur had himself led by example,washing the feet of his former teacher at a government school in Bhopal.
Education Minister Archana Chitnis has not made it clear whether she will emulate Gaur but she has asked students to accord a floral welcome to teachers and apply a tika on their forehead.
The feet-washing ritual will be performed in the first period,immediately after prayers. Teachers have been instructed to bless students with a long and successful life.
A circular,dated August 28,has asked schools to honour retired and best teachers and organise seminars to highlight the roles played by them in shaping the future of students.
The circular,however,is silent on the states proposed Rashtra Rishi scheme under which teachers were to be given badges from September 13 onwards. A Hindu organisation had criticised the title,saying it could not be bestowed on teachers of all religions. Some others sought to change the title,claiming not every teacher was qualified enough to deserve the honour.
The government,however,is going ahead with the bhojan mantra (meal-time prayer) programme. Before eating mid-day meal,students will have to recite a bhojan mantra,a practice common in RSS-affiliated schools.
