New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee will don the hat of a teacher on Friday and give lessons in political history to XI and XII graders of a Delhi school on the eve of Teachers Day.
The scholarly President, who was a college teacher and a journalist before he plunged into the hurly burly of politics in 1969, will hold a joint class for grade XI and XII students of Dr Rajendra Prasad Sarvodaya Vidyalaya at the school located inside the Presidential Estate.
An aide said the President will tell them about political history “as he has seen unfolding”.
The students will assemble on the ‘Knowledge floor’ and listen to their new teacher. Later, the President will address nearly 100 teachers also.
The idea was mooted by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Deputy Manish Sisodia. The President liked it and gave consent to be part of the state government’s programme ‘Be a Teacher’ where renowned personalities from different walks of life like art, culture, sports, business, politics and civil services take classes and inspire students to achieve excellence in life.
Mukherjee, 79, has Masters degree in History and Political Science as also Law from the University of Kolkata.
A voracious reader, Mukherjee has often stressed on the need for providing quality education and, in his address to the nation on the eve of Independence Day earlier this month, had laid special emphasis on “guru-shishya” (Teacher-Student) relations.
September 5, the birth anniversary of second Indian President and philosopher S Radhakrishnan is celebrated as Teachers Day.