Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged teachers to look beyond students’ academic performance and remain attentive to changes in their behaviour and everyday lives, particularly warning about drug addiction and excessive screen use.
He also called on teachers to preserve childhood innocence, nurture curiosity and instil the “dignity of labour.”
The message puts greater responsibility on teachers to recognise behavioural changes early and help students dealing with harmful influences. Excessive screen time was another concern highlighted by the Prime Minister. He urged teachers to speak to parents about how much time their children spend on screens and whether they continue using mobile phones late at night. For Agrawal, the Prime Minister’s emphasis on stakeholder engagement for sustainable development was particularly relevant to her own work.
This year, 82 teachers and educators have been selected for the National Teachers Awards . They include 48 school teachers, 21 teachers and faculty members from higher educational institutions and polytechnics, and 13 skill trainers from the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, according to a Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) release issued on Saturday.
The PMO said Modi emphasised that teachers need to look beyond academic performance and be attentive to changes in children’s behaviour. Referring to the gradual reduction of the traditional joint-family structure, he said teachers have an increasingly important role in children’s lives and should observe them closely, identify problems and provide personal attention wherever required. On drug addiction, Modi called upon teachers to “remain alert to changes in children, identify the cause and help such children overcome the habit”, according to the release. Modi also stressed that “preserving the innocence of childhood” is an important role for teachers. He said children have the same basic nature and curiosity and that teachers can make a significant contribution to their development by nurturing and appropriately channelising that curiosity. The PMO said he suggested that children could gradually move away from excessive screen use by developing an interest in “sports, physical games and creative activities. “I already try to engage society and people, and with this message, it makes me even more motivated and determined to do it more rigorously through my teaching,” she said.
Modi also linked the role of teachers to the National Education Policy, stressing the importance of taking children outside classrooms and connecting them with real-world skills and different forms of work. The awardees highlighted the experiences and innovations that have shaped their teaching journey. They shared several creative approaches adopted by them to make classroom learning more engaging and effective. He urged teachers to speak to parents about how much time their children spend on screens and whether they continue using mobile phones late at night. He suggested that children could gradually come out of excessive screen use by developing an interest in sports, physical games and creative activities.
Earlier reporting noted: PM Modi urges teachers to address excessive screen time, drug addiction among students Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged addressing children’s excessive screen time through sports and creative activities during a meeting with 82 National Award-winning teachers at his official residence on Friday (September 4, 2026). Earlier reporting noted: The awardees include 48 teachers from the Department of School Education and Literacy, 21 teachers/faculty members from higher educational institutions and polytechnics, and 13 skill trainers from the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
He asked teachers to go beyond imparting knowledge from the syllabus and help inculcate values such as the “dignity of labour” among children. Earlier reporting noted: Highlighting the issue of excessive screen time, he said that it has become a major concern.
