Smart classes erasing rural-urban divide, digital libraries bridging rich-poor gap: Adityanath

Gorakhpur (UP): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said that smart classes were helping erase the divide between the cities and villages, while digital libraries were bridging the gap between the rich and the poor. He also said artificial intelligence was set to bring about a radical transformation and that the state could not afford to be left behind.

The chief minister's remarks came at an event in Gorakhpur, where he felicitated 81 teachers from the Basic Education and Secondary Education departments on Teachers' Day. "I believe that wherever smart classrooms have reached, the divide between city and village has vanished; wherever digital libraries have arrived, the gap between the rich and the poor has been bridged," he said.

Yogi Adityanath on technology in education

The chief minister said that disparities in education must be eliminated and noted that technology is the simplest and best medium to achieve this. "Today, we are rapidly moving in that direction," Adityanath said. Referring to robotics and drone technology, he said questions were often raised about whether teachers would remain relevant once these technologies arrive.

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"The answer is simple. No one can take your place. Remember, a machine can provide answers, but it does not teach one how to ask questions. It is the teacher who teaches how to ask questions," Adityanath said. He acknowledged that AI could provide information in seconds that might otherwise take hours to gather, but pointed out that technology could not impart values.

"AI cannot impart values; only a teacher can instil values," he said. Launching a scathing attack on his political rivals, the chief minister said that those who had the opportunity to govern the state not just once, but four times, and the Congress party , which ruled UP for nearly six decades, are the very people trying to question the state's education system.

Yogi Adityanath targets previous UP governments

"They are attempting to raise questions about the education system by visiting the very dilapidated buildings' structures that we have already replaced, upgraded, and transformed into 'balvatikas'," he said. Hitting out at the Samajwadi Party, Adityanath said, "The work of strengthening the basic and secondary education systems could have been undertaken even before 2017, but the governments of that time paid no attention to it.

Had you diverted even a small portion of the funds spent on the Saifai Mahotsav towards education, the future of lakhs of children would have been secured. Had the money spent on importing a Buckingham Palace-style carriage to celebrate your birthday been invested in education, children's future would have been built, and there would have been no crisis of identity." Adityanath further said there is no place for politics in education.

"Those who view matters through a political lens will fail to see the radical transformation the state's education system has undergone since 2017," he said. The CM also claimed that malicious propaganda is being spread to tarnish UP's image. He pointed out that a video showing a dilapidated school building from another state was circulated, falsely claiming it was from Jhansi.

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CM on UP education reforms

"Those attempting to disparage UP's education sector fail to see the sweeping transformations brought about by initiatives like 'Smart Classes' and 'Operation Kayakalp'. However, our competition is not with those who merely make election-time promises, but with time itself. If we fail the child we are educating, their childhood will never return.

Therefore, one must cultivate the habit of making the right decisions, in the right direction, at the right time," he said. Drawing a comparison with the previous governments, the chief minister said, "Before 2017, the very idea of schools and colleges functioning amidst an atmosphere of unrest, curfews, riots, and anarchy was unimaginable.

Now, there is no such crisis. No one can create trouble before a festival." Adityanath claimed that before the BJP came to power, there was rampant cheating, and schools and colleges in UP had a bad reputation. "Before 2017, copying was rampant in a contractual manner. Schools and colleges had become hubs for such malpractice.

The youth faced an identity crisis, and the state, home to India's largest population, was viewed with suspicion and scrutiny. People were reluctant to visit Uttar Pradesh, and our youth and teachers were often looked upon with distrust in other states. However, today, our youth and teachers are respected everywhere; the perception of UP has changed," he said.

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81 teachers receive State Teacher Awards

The chief minister said 'teacher, talent, and transformation' have been integrated to make the state's education system effective. Later, the UP government issued a statement that Adityanath personally presented awards to all 81 teachers selected for the State Teacher Award and Chief Minister Teacher Award.

But according to the scheduled programme, he was to honour only 10 teachers – five from the Basic Education Department and five from the Secondary Education Department. The chief minister's gesture delighted teachers who had come from across the state, the statement said.

The chief minister told officials that he would respect the sentiments of all 81 selected teachers and personally honour each one, the government said. Adityanath presented the award-winning teachers with a citation certificate, a symbolic cheque of Rs 25,000, as well as an idol of Goddess Saraswati, the statement said.