Follow your dreams, Pargat Singh tells students

Tribune News Service

Mohali, November 2

The youth should dedicate themselves to achieve their life goals with hard work, determination and devotion, as sky is the limit for them given their unbounded energy, said Education Minister Pargat Singh while interacting with teachers and students of government schools through EDUSAT.

Every child has talent, but the need is to spot and hone it and the situation warrants career counseling to students from the primary level, said the minister.

Going down the memory lane, the minister recalled his school days and credited his teachers for shaping him into what he was today.

Pargat remember his school headmaster Mukhtiyar Singh, math teacher Basant Singh, physical education teacher Daljit Singh, Hindi teacher Sita Sharma and drawing teacher Gian Chand. Nobody can match the stature a teacher enjoys in society, he said.

The minister also exhorted people to desist from bursting crackers and celebrate ‘Green Diwali’.

He also said students should place equal importance on studies and sports, besides having balanced diet. By doing this, they can enjoy much healthier life, he said.

Emphasising the importance of mother tongue, Pargat said: “Today, countries like China and Japan have progressed by adopting their mother tongue. What a child can learn in his/her mother tongue, cannot be learned in any other language.”

“Knowledge of every subject must be translated into Punjabi and digitized,” he added.

Remembering his initial days as a hockey player, Pargat said at the age of 18 he travelled from New Delhi to Jalandhar during night to fetch his passport for his first tour and then ran 7 km to Mithapur from Jalandhar in the afternoon.

He said hockey taught him the all important aspect of team spirit. “I strongly believe in team spirit at every platform in life,” he said.

Secretary, Education, Ajoy Sharma said the main motive of education was the overall development of students.

Surprise check

Higher Education and Languages Minister Pargat Singh on Tuesday conducted a surprise check at the DPI (Colleges) Headquarters at Sikhya Bhawan in Mohali. Pargat Singh visited the branches of the head office to access the functioning of various divisions. He also checked the attendance of staff and asked the employees to be punctual. He also visited the NCC branch. The minister said he had got feedback from general public regarding inordinate delay in their work by some employees and warned the staff that such behaviour would not be tolerated. He said services should be provided to people within the stipulated time period. People should not face any sort of inconvenience. Transparency and clean administration should be ensured, he said.