Start ‘teach to transform’ campaign on Teachers Day: Modi

New Delhi, Aug 27 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged the nation to begin the campaign of 'teach to transform, educate to empower and learn to lead' on the occasion of Teachers Day.

Modi remembered the country's second President S. Radhakrishnan -- after whom Teachers' Day is celebrated -- and exhorted teachers to undertake teaching on a mission level to transform and empower.

"This year, when we celebrate Teachers Day, can we take an oath of beginning a campaign 'teach to transform, educate to empower and learn to lead'," said Modi in his 35th edition of the "Mann Ki Baat" radio programme.

"He (Radhakrishnan) was the President but all through his life, he saw himself as a teacher. He preferred to live a teacher's life. He was committed to being a teacher. He was a scholar, a diplomat, the President of India and yet, quintessentially, a teacher. I salute him," Modi said.

He underlined the role of a teacher in sparking a love for learning in the student and quoted famous scientist Albert Einstein, according to whom, the supreme art of teaching lay in awakening "joy in creative expression and knowledge".

"As we celebrate Teachers Day this year can we come together and take a resolve? Can we run a campaign in mission mode? Teach to Transform, Educate to Empower, Learn to Lead. Can we move ahead with this resolve," Modi asked of the listeners.

"With this oath, we can fix every aim for a period of five years, create ways to achieve and attain it within the targeted time."

Stating the role of a teacher was vital for the transformation of society, the Prime Minister said in every teacher's life there are experiences which had transformed some student's life.

"Collective effort can lead to transformation. Let's follow the mantra of teach to transform," he said.