Chandigarh, 23 November:
Punjab Education Minister Pargat Singh on Tuesday stressed on making the school children aware of the life of great personalities & valour of our Gurus so that future generations could be aware of their rich heritage.
This was stated by the minister while addressing the gathering at a function here today at Chandigarh on the occasion of awarding prizes to the winners of the co-educational competition dedicated to the 400th birth anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji.
“We need to learn from the visionary thinking of Guru Sahibs, the message of humanity, dedication and sacrifice. The purpose of these co-educational competitions organized by the education department was to spread the message, teachings and supreme sacrifices of Guru Tegh Bahadur from door to door,” the minister added.
“Our history is full of supreme sacrifices and martyrdoms. Moreover, the entire life of the Ninth Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji is a source of inspiration for us. We need to learn from his life and imbibe teachings of the Gurus as well as follow the path shown by them,” Pargat Singh
Recalling the precious lessons taught by his teachers, the education minister said that the greatest contributor to nation-building is the teachers who are always working diligently to make the future of others bright.
He said that every student has hidden talent, all is needed to identify it and only a teacher can do that impeccably.
Pargat Singh congratulated all the education officials, school heads, teachers for conducting online competitions during the unprecedented times of Covid-19.
The Minister said that he is working with
a positive attitude to resolve the issues related to the education department. He asked the District Education Officers to take up the matters about the department which could be resolved at the lower level.
Earlier in his address, Director General School Education Pardeep Kumar Aggarwal said that due to the Covid-19 pandemic these co-educational competitions were conducted online in which a record 2,85,973 students participated in 11 categories.
In this competition various events including ‘Shabad Gayan’, singing, poetry recitation, speech competition, instrument playing, poster making, painting, slogan writing, calligraphy, PPT making and turban tying competitions among others conducted by the department which lasted for about five months.
D.P.I. (Secondary Education) Sukhjit Pal Singh informed that a tablet and Rs. 1100 and a picture of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji have been given to the student for winning the first position, a mobile phone and Rs. 1100 along with the picture of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji has been given to the student for clinching the second position in the competition. While a total of Rs 11.30 lakh awards including cash of Rs 1.4 lakh distributed among students.
Speaking on the occasion, SCERT Director and Recruitment Board Officer, Dr Jarnail Singh Kaleke said that the school children showed their devotion to Guru Sahib through various performances in these competitions. Different competitions of secondary, middle and primary classes of school children were conducted. The media team of the department has also well-publicized these competitions on various media platforms.
Welcoming the gathering Dr Sukhdarshan Singh Chahal said that the competition was also conducted separately for the students with special abilities in which 2929 students participated.
Amardeep Singh Bath said that cash prizes of Rs. 2000, Rs. 1500, Rs. 1000, and Rs 500-500 has also been given to five position holders respectively in the district level competitions, which was a total of Rs 5.3 lakh.
Meanwhile, a total of Rs.76.97 lakh was spent on co-educational competitions.
On this occasion, the Education Minister was immensely impressed with the beautiful writing and painting exhibition of the winning children.
He especially met Jashandeep Singh, a bright student of Government Primary School, Kalbanjara (Sangrur). Though Jashandeep does not have hands, but the child exhibited his unique talent with his feet and set an example for others by winning prizes in beautiful writing and painting, the minister said.
The function began with the singing of ‘Shabad Gayan’ by the winner students Navneet Kaur and Nishan Singh. Student Khushpreet Kaur recited an enthusiastic poem.
On this occasion, D.P.I. (Elementary Education) Harinder Kaur, Assistant Director Gurjit Singh, All District Education Officers, District Nodal Officers, school principals and students were present.
