Today, most classrooms in India will be teeming with greeting cards, flowers and gifts from students to their teachers. Blackboards and notice boards will be full of messages about what teachers mean to us. India is celebrating Teacher's Day, honouring the memory of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, India's second president.
Before serving the nation as a president, Dr Radhakrishnan was teaching philosophy at Madras Presidency college. He has also taught at the Maharajas' college at Mysore. He has also served as principal at the Harris Manchester college and was knighted by George V. This distinguished academician and Bharat Ratna. The president himself said that it would be a privilege if his birthday was celebrated as Teacher's Day.
Today, we look at the world leaders who were teachers before they turned to politics.
Lyndon B. Johnson: The 36th president of the United States of America, Lyndon B. Johnson, was a high school teacher in Texas before he was elected to the Senate and eventually became the president in 1963. Johnson said, he would see many kids in the school who would come to class without breakfast, hungry. This according to him played an important role in drafting the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Higher Secondary Act which continue providing financial security to poor students in the country.
Justin Trudeau: This young Canadian prime minister taught elementary maths and high school French, humanities and drama for three years at a private school. Trudeau said he had become a teacher to have a positive influence on the world.
Eleanor Roosevelt: As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's wife, Eleanor Roosevelt served as first lady from March 1933 to April 1945. She was an activist for the under-represented group of African Americans. But before she found her own footing as the first lady, she was a teacher of history, literature and public affairs at the Todhunter School for Girls in New York City for six years.
Barack Obama: One of America's most loved president's, Barack Obama too, was a teacher. After finishing his Law degree from Harvard, Obama was a professor at the University of Chicago Law School for 12 years. He was then elected to the Senate in 2004.
Manmohan Singh: Dr Manmohan Singh, an exponent in economics, has served our country as a finance minister and then as the prime minister from 2004 to 2014. This brilliant man has also held positions like chief economic advisor, Reserve Bank governor and head of the planning commission. But before he entered politics, he was a professor in economics at Punjab University and has also taught at the Delhi School of Economics at the University of Delhi.
