The quality of education today decides the tomorrow of Gujarat... Government may build schools, but the future can be built by the schools only. The key responsibility of building Gujarat's tomorrow thus lies with the schools.
Good roads, good houses, adequate electricity, good schools or good hospitals in the village are indeed, the parameters of progress. However, in my view, 100 percent literate village is the true symbol of real progress.
Cleanliness & good sanitation in schools is a matter of high importance.
Let the professionals like doctors & engineers teach in schools once a week. Let's make teaching a national movement necessary for Nation building.
I have requested the corporates to evolve plans under corporate social responsibility to build clean toilets specially for girl students in schools. India should learn from foreign countries, where people are disciplined and do not litter in public places.
It means food on every table, every child in school, a job for everybody and a house with toilet and electricity for every family. This will make India proud. We can achieve this through unity. Unity strengthens us. Division weakens us.
Parents give birth; the Guru gives life. These life-givers are the soul of the magnificent building. The school building which the government can construct is like the body, but the teachers are the soul.
We have successfully achieved the target of building toilets in schools.
Gujarat's e-governance projects have been recognized in the country and abroad. To give a few examples- Gujarat has the largest Wide Area Network in the Asia Pacific. It is the first State to provide broadband connectivity in all schools and villages. It makes maximum use of video-conferencing including trial of the prisoners. Gujarat's ICT based Grievance Redressal System called SWAGAT has got the United Nation's Public Service Award. In addition, it has received eleven national awards for our various e-services.
Almost 4.25 lakh toilets were built in 2.62 schools nationwide in one year; this gives self-confidence that we can do what we want.
School can become a temple of learning only when the student, the guardian, and the society, in harmony, endeavor to make it a place of pursuit for education, a sadhana; where the spring of punctuality, sanctity and thirst for knowledge flows.
When I went to a school in Japan, they told me that both the teachers and students perform cleaning tasks here to keep the schools clean. I wondered why can't we do it in India.
