SHIMLA: Governor Kavinder Gupta conferred State Teachers’ Awards on 32 teachers and honoured one teacher with the National Award for 2025 at a State-level Teachers’ Day function at Lok Bhavan, Shimla. Congratulating the awardees, he highlighted the crucial role of teachers, parents and students in strengthening the education system. Paying tribute to Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, he said teachers shape students’ character, values, confidence and ultimately the future of the nation.

The Governor emphasized the importance of quality, inclusive and value-based education for achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat-2047. Referring to NEP 2020, he highlighted the growing focus on skills, creativity, innovation, research and character building. He also praised Himachal Pradesh for its performance in the PARAKH National Survey, particularly securing second position nationally in Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN). He said that despite the rise of AI, robotics and digital technology, the guidance and values provided by teachers cannot be replaced.
Education Minister Rohit Thakur said the government was committed to improving the quality of education and highlighted initiatives including over 9,000 appointments in the Education Department, English from Class I, promotion of local languages, staff rationalisation and educational exposure programmes for students and teachers. Technical Education Minister Rajesh Dharmani congratulated the award-winning teachers and suggested documenting their success stories to inspire others. The Governor also released a souvenir, while students presented a cultural programme on the occasion.