Most schools adhere to directive, show Narendra Modi's address live

New Delhi: Thirteen-year old Prerna was beaming with confidence as she walked out of the Manekshaw auditorium after listening to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Teachers' Day address.

Prerna Singh, a class Xth student of Kendriya Vidyalaya Pragati Vihar, was one of the many students who interacted with the PM.

Prerna now knows what she wants to do in her life. "It was just amazing. Before I attended the event, I wanted to become an IPS officer, but now first of all I want to become a good human being and then something else," she said.

Answering to her question, Modi had said, "I'm not a headmaster but a taskmaster. It is not that I distribute my work and not work myself. I say (to officials) that if you're ready to work for 11 hours than I am ready to work for 12 hours.

Like Prerna around 800 students from government schools got an opportunity to have an interaction with the Prime Minister of the country in a first of it kind initiative.

Shobha Sharma Principal of a school who also attended the session appeared impressed.

"He has conveyed subtly messages to children about saving electricity, taking care of nature, developing good habits and manners. We teachers all the time say these things to our students, but when it comes from the Prime Minister of the country, it definitely has an impact," Sharma said.

Around 11 lakh students across the national capital heard Modi's address and subsequent interaction through TV, radio and the Internet installed at government, government-aided and private schools.

The Directorate of Education (DoE), which monitored the schools showing the PM's address, said that according to their data more than 11, 35,000 students watched the programme.

"As per the data, 5,71,288 students from 697 government schools under DoE schools, 30,983 students from 71 government aided schools, 1,26,753 students from 251 private schools, 18,823 students from 52 NDMC schools, 122387 from 432 (South) MCD schools, 2518 from (North) MCD schools and 82, 248 students from 230 (East) MCD schools watched the programme in their schools," said Additional Director of DoE, Vinay Bhushan.

"There are many more students who watched the programme in their houses. Deputy directors and Education directors had inspected the schools to check if PM's address was being shown in the schools," Bhushan added.