Dr Andrew Ahoto Sema
President, NPP Nagaland
NPP Nagaland State joins the rest of the nation in edifying and wishing our intellectual and spiritual guides, our mentors, on the occasion of Teachers’ Day 2021.
Dear mentors, I want you to know that you are seen and most valued. You may not be listed as essential workers, but you are essential. As a teacher myself, I know all the work that goes into teaching under distinctive circumstances. Teaching during this pandemic is so far from typical. It is literally nothing school systems have ever done before as it is now a new normal. This is not what you signed up for, and yet you are doing it amazingly. You are putting together the new teaching, learning system plans and you are adapting your teaching in the blink of an eye.
As mentors our goal is to foster that purpose within each student and help them develop character, empathy, values and resilience as a habit for a lifetime.
I can well understand how you miss your students, the classroom community, and the culture you cultivated. I know how much your students mean to you — how they become ‘your kids’ year after year — and how much you love seeing them light up when they learn something new. Do not worry, your students are still learning something new and you are creating history. You are the first mentor to tackle a challenge like the one we are facing now. Years from now, you will be remembered as the year we all learned how to live life at a distance from each other and continue to function as a society. Pause a moment and realize that what you are doing matters. It matters not just for the students you have in your classes today, but also for the future.
You are part of large-scale systemic change and are making history. You are essential. Take care of yourself. Be well; try your best, and thank you for being there and standing tall for our kids.
As a mentor your place is one of deep reverence and every mentor who toils hard for the betterment of students is actually someone striving for a better future of the Nation. You are creating future world leaders, doctors, scientists, entrepreneurs, lawyers, philosophers, entertainers, and more mentors.
Let us pay our heartfelt respect to our guides and mentors, who taught us not just math and science, but how to never back down and hold our heads high.
On this occasion, let us also recall the virtues of being a good mentor, re-dedicate ourselves to the cause of educating our students in a spirited manner and help shaping them in many aspects including making them ready to meet tomorrow’s challenges, both techno-scientific and social, facing the society in a positive way.
Long Live Teachers’ Day!
