www.telegraphindia.com

Kalimpong, Sept. 2: Guardians of students here want schools to ban the practice of giving gifts to teachers on Teacher’s Day.

“Some teachers are known to ask for gifts from students, while certain pupils come with expensive gifts to be in the good books of the teachers,” said Tara Sundas, an adviser to the recently formed Guardians’ Forum for Education.

“This practice points to the commercialisation of the education system, which is not healthy at all,” Sundas added.

The guardians clarified that they were not against observing Teacher’s Day on September 5. “Teachers play a vital role in our society and they must be respected for that. However, we should not digress from the ideals of Teacher’s Day celebrations,” Sundas said.

The school authorities, on their part, denied forcing students to bring expensive gifts.

“In my school, prefects collect a small amount (no more than Rs 30 for seniors and Rs 20 for juniors) from their classmates, with which they buy small gifts for teachers besides treating them to lunch,” said Prakash Pradhan, the director of Rockvale Academy.

Father Lawrence Monterio, the principal of St Augustine’s School, had much the same thing to say. “Children in this school do present gifts to teachers, but not expensive ones,” Monterio said.