Celebration of Teachers Day on September 5 is a total lackluster affair this year across India. And the reason for the dampen spirit is one and only COVID19 pandemic.
Schools and colleges are closed across India since mid-March, and students and teachers are caught totally indoors because of the ‘fear’ of the killer virus.
Both teachers and students are learning new tricks of online class everyday as uncertainty looms large over reopening of schools and colleges across India.
As teachers play an important role in shaping our life, they are the inspiration, the mentor, the guide, the spark and the candle to our life.
Teachers Day is a day meant to appreciate, honor and acknowledge the amazing contribution teachers do to us.
The Teachers Day celebrations don’t seem to go the usual way this year. Most schools and colleges have planned to celebrate the day online.
This is for the first time in last 59 years that the celebration of Teachers Day is going to be a low-key because of COVID19 pandemic.
After all, the government has banned public gathering, while using masks with social distancing have become the two new normal for everyone.
Every year since 1962, schools, colleges and universities across India has been celebrating September 5 as the Teachers’ Day. It’s the birthday of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
He was a philosopher, academic, and statesman, and served as the first Vice President of India (1952–1962) and the second President of India (1962–1967).
Caught amidst the pandemic, students across India have planned to express their gratitude and thanks towards their teachers by posting photographs and videos of speeches, songs and dances on social media pages of their respective educational institutions.
Most parents, along with the students, confined in homes, are also getting busy to prepare the videos and designing e-greetings for the teachers.
“In the prevailing situation, we have decided to celebrate the day online. We had begun preparations a week back,” Rajiv Das, a Class IX student of a private school in Guwahati said.
Students of senior grades are busy preparing thanks-giving speeches for their teachers, and are going to upload those on different social media platforms for the Teachers Day.
The tiny tots are also not behind their elder brothers and sisters in making the online celebrations of Teachers Day a grand success.
“My daughter is busy painting greetings card for her teachers. After all, it is one day in the year which we all celebrate to pay our respect to the teachers,” Mitali Sarma, mother of a 6-year old daughter, said.
Some of the schools have also have packaged special programmes to thank their ex-teachers, some of whom are old, or are now based outside the country.
“We have contacted them and made five-minute videos enumerating their achievements, memories and messages for the students to do their best in the present scenario,” principal of a leading private school in Guwahati, said.