NEW DELHI: Highlighting the importance of the role of a teacher in shaping lives of students, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said, "Students are the identity of a teacher."
"A mother gives birth to a child, while the (guru) teacher gives life (jeevan)," he said addressing a function here on the eve of Teachers' Day.
Modi told students and teachers that sometimes people ask him that why does he spends so much time with them.
"If a doctor saves someone's life, his photo is published in a newspaper. But if a teacher makes a hundred doctors, he is hardly recognized. Teachers' Day is to recognize and honour them," he said, adding, "There must have been a great teacher behind every great doctor, engineer, scientist."
Observing that a teacher is "incomplete" if he is not investing in his students, Modi said, "Young children are very impressionable and whatever their teacher says, they'll remember that for the rest of their life. Teachers play a big role in shaping students."
Referring to late former President A P J Abdul Kalam, he said Kalam "wanted to be remembered as a teacher".
The Prime Minister released a commemorative coin in honour of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and also launched the Kala Utsav website.
Kala Utsav is an initiative of the Ministry of Human Resource Development to promote arts in education by nurturing and showcasing the artistic talent of school students at the secondary stage in the country.