President of India Inaugurates Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Rameswar High School in Odisha

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inauguratedthe Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Rameswar High School at Rameswar in Khurda district of Odisha today (August 7, 2015).

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that he was happy to participate in the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Rameswar High School. He fondly recollected thememories of Dr. Janaki Ballav Patnaik, who had asked him to attend the Golden Jubilee Celebration of thisschool. He said he was certainly missing thepresence of Late Janaki Babu. Throughout his life,Dr. Patnaik continued his literary activities in addition to his political activities. The President said that his friendship with Dr. Janaki Ballav Patnaik grew in the fields of literature, art and philosophy in addition to that inthe political sphere.

The Presidentstated that Janaki Babu himself was a product of one of these schools in the village of Rameswar. He said that he was also told that because of Rameswar high school, education could be imparted to the girls of the area, including the minority girl students. Theemphasis on creating an environment of greenery in the schoolreminded him of ancient India’s ‘Tapovan’ where ancient gurus taught in the midst of nature. The Golden Jubilee Celebration of the school is a befitting tribute to late Janaki Babu and his contribution in transforming the school.

The President said that education implies not just collection but assimilation of information to transform it into knowledge. He quoted Swami Vivekananda and said "Education is not the amount of information that we put into the brain………. We must have life building, man making, character making and assimilation of ideas. If you have assimilated five ideas and made them your life and character, you have more education than any man who has got by heart a whole library……….”.

The President said that to reap the demographic dividend in India, the young population has to be skilled appropriately, so that the youth are ready to take up right jobs and contribute to the growth of the nation.

The President said that though we have reputededucational institutions, it is a matter of serious concernthat none of them find a place in the global list of top 200 institutions. This is a gap which needs to be filled. If we begin from strengthening school education itself,we can fulfil this gap. He took the opportunity to exhort all the young minds present there to inculcate in themselves the spirit of innovation and research to expand their horizon of knowledge. This is necessary if we want to occupy our rightful place in the comity of nations.

This release issued 1745 hrs.