Lucknow: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday asked education department officials to prepare content for children at the primary level, ensuring that the characters in the stories are based on Indian national heroes.

“If we look at it from the point of view of eligibility, then there will be no better characters than those from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. In childhood, our grandmothers used to tell the stories of Ram and Krishna, not of any foreign hero. Therefore, educational stories based on these characters should be included in the syllabus,” Yogi said.

Honouring 81 teachers for their exemplary contribution on the occasion of Teacher’s Day, Yogi said, “Children’s books should not be thick. They should be rather thin and interesting, so that children don’t run away on seeing them, but develop an interest in reading.”

“Every school should take into account the innovations of meritorious teachers. Also, in schools where these teachers are employed, there should be a special discussion on their innovation in the morning assembly,” the CM said.

The children’s story collection ‘Gullak’, prepared by SCERT, ‘Bal Vatika’ handbook, and educational innovations compilation booklet ‘Udgam’ were released on this occasion.

The CM also launched Udgam digital platform.

The ‘Gullak’ storybook aims to help teachers make learning more engaging while instilling moral and human values in students, while ‘Udgam’ highlights innovative practices being implemented by teachers in schools.

The CM also distributed tablets to principals of 2,204 govt secondary schools and inaugurated smart classes in 1,236 others.

Basic education minister Sandeep Singh said the govt was providing modern education to children without discrimination. “Children are getting equal education through smart classes, good teachers, and quality content. Basic books of NCERT are also being implemented. By the next session, these will be implemented till class 4, and further, there is a plan to provide education through these till class 8.”

Secondary education minister Gulab Devi said that copying in examinations had been curbed. “The copying mafia has been eliminated, and strict provisions now include a fine of up to Rs 1 crore and life imprisonment for offenders. While a teacher makes a student a scholar, it is the guru who elevates the student to greatness. Teachers are role models for both society and children,” Devi said.

Among those honoured from the basic education department were assistant teachers Santosh Kumar Singh (Bhadohi), Renu Singh (Meerut), Mohini Srivastava (Lakhimpur Kheri), Reena Mishra (Prayagraj), and Pramod Kumar Singh (Gorakhpur).

From secondary education department, Ramprakash Gupta (Hamirpur), Komal Tyagi (Ghaziabad), Chaman Jahan (Bareilly), Jang Bahadur (Jaunpur), and Virendra Kumar Patel (Gorakhpur) were felicitated.