Teachers as Nation-builders

A nation is built by its citizens and citizens are moulded by their teachers. Chanakya rightly said, “Teacher is the maker of a nation”. The kind of nation India should be is envisioned in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. When teachers are convinced by the vision of India as envisaged in the Preamble, they can then help their students to imbibe the core values of the Indian Constitution, thus making a significant contribution to the process of nation-building.

The core values of the Indian Constitution as delineated in the Preamble are 1) Sovereign socialist secular democratic republic, 2) Justice: social, economic and political, 3) Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship, 4) Equality of status and of opportunity, 5) Fraternity, 6) Dignity of the individual, and 7) Unity and integrity of the nation.

Along with helping students in their intellectual and emotional growth and skill development, teachers have a great responsibility to instil in students the core constitutional values mentioned above. Only then can they claim to be nation-builders.

Subscribe to The Teenager Today print / digital editions to read the full article.