President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday conferred the National Awards to Teachers 2021 on 44 teachers from across the country for their distinguished contributions on the occasion of Teachers' Day on New Delhi.

Speaking at a virtual award ceremony, the President said that the primary responsibility of combining the inherent talents of the students lies with the teachers; a good teacher is a personality-builder, a society-builder, and a nation-builder.

While congratulating all the teachers who received the award, President Kovind said that such teachers strengthen his belief that the future generation is safe in the hands of well-qualified teachers.

"Teachers who nurture their students with affection and devotion always get respect from their students," the president said.

The President urged teachers to inspire and enable their students to envision a golden future and acquire aptitude to fulfill their aspirations, while adding that it is the duty of teachers to inculcate interest in studies in their students.

The President added that emphasis should be laid on all-round development of each child according to their special needs, interests and abilities.

President Kovind also lauded the teaching fraternity for ensuring that education of children continues during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"For the last one and a half years, the whole world has been going through a crisis caused by the Corona pandemic. In this situation, even when all the schools and colleges were closed, teachers did not allow the education of the children to stop. For this, the teachers learned to use digital platforms in a very short time and continued the education process,"

The President noted that some teachers have developed remarkable infrastructure in schools with their hard work and dedication and expressed hope that the entire teacher community would keep on changing their teaching method according to the changing circumstances.

"Our education system should be such that students develop commitment to the constitutional values ​​and fundamental duties, strengthen patriotic feeling, and make them aware of their role in the changing global scenario," the President added.