Monday, September 4 2006 17:00 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Voicing 'deep pain' over the death of a Professor in student union violence in Ujjain last week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (Sept 4,2006) strongly disapproved the action of the students allegedly belonging to the BJP's student's wing ABVP in the incident.

"I was deeply pained when I heard of the death of a teacher last week in Ujjain at the hands of unruly students. I am also pained by incidents of disrespectful behaviour by students and some anti-social elements who pretend to be students", he said.

Singh was addressing a large number of award winning teachers from across the country on the occasion of 'Teachers Day'.

Prof H S Sabharwal, who was supervising the student union elections of Madhav College in Ujjain, died last week after an attack by unruly students who were protesting the cancellation of the polls following complaints of irregularities.

Asking every parent to teach their children the value of the idea of 'Acharya Devo Bhava' (teacher is God), the Prime Minister said he wanted every child, every student, every parent, every citizen to take a pledge not to show disrespect to teachers.

Noting that the teachers have been honoured by the country for their meritorious services, dedication and commitment, Singh said these traits among teachers were today of even greater value when crass commercialism and anti-social behaviour is overtaking our educational institutions.

India needs good, hard-working, honest and caring teachers, he said adding in turn the country must also show respect to teachers, take good care of them, offer them a status that recognizes their contribution to society and nation-building.

Observing that interventions need to be designed to address the problems of poor student's achievement and poorclass room transaction, Singh said, "There is an urgent need to initiate reforms in curricula, the examination system and development of textbooks in the states at all levels of school education.

The Prime Minister said that there was a special focus on girls' education under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and government was placing great emphasis on educationi of SC/ST communinities and all minority groups.

The Government has steeply increased financial outlays to school education and expanded the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, he said adding that local community-based monitoring of school performance was very important to ensure that increased outlays translate into better outcomes.

He appealed to the teaching fraternity to strive for higher moral standards, a liberal and modern outlook and a commitment to professionalism and fair play.

"No system of education can perform well if it is not manned by good teachers", Singh added.