On 22nd October 2010, the Former President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, inaugurated the new campus of the Zydus School for Excellence, Godhavi and also launched the Shiksha Shikshak Jagruti Abhiyan (SSJA), a mentoring programme to empower teachers in the rural communities. SSJA is a joint initiative of the Ramanbhai Foundation, Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) and the Zydus School for Excellence.

In his inspirational address to over 100 teachers who had come from various parts of Gujarat such as Junagadh, Jamnagar, Amreli, Navsari, Bhavnagar, Kutch, Mundra, Porbandar etc., and students from the Zydus School for Excellence I & II, Dr. Kalam said “What is the creative teacher? Creative teacher means: when the teacher enters the class room, knowledge radiates from the teacher and the purity of the life of the teacher radiates all around. Only then shall the students be empowered educationally and morally with ethics.”

I am delighted to meet the teachers, principals and Headmasters of various government schools from panchayat, mu8nicipal, Taluka schools, Cluster Resource Centers, schools set up for children with special needs of Gujarat and Zydus School for Excellence, Journalists and few selected invitees of the Ramanbhai Foundation. My greetings to all of you assembled here. I am happy to know that every year the Ramanbhai Patel – AMA Centre for Excellence in Education invitees nominations from teachers from Gujarat for the Shrestha Shikshak Award. The two teachers have been selected for this award. My heartiest congratulations.

I am also happy to inaugurate the learning centre setup in the ruralGALLERY | REACHING OUT | CAREERSon the outskirts of Ahmedabad by the Zydus School for Excellence. I consider that the Principals and Headmasters are the leaders who transform the children into enlightened citizens. Keeping this in mind, I would like to talk on the topic “Mission of Education: Evolution of Great Citizens”.