Kolkata: St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata, in association with the St. Xavier’s College (Calcutta) Alumni Association (SXCCAA) and the St. Xavier’s College Students’ Council, celebrated Teachers’ Day on Saturday, 5 September 2026, at the Fr. Depelchin Auditorium of the College with a special programme, honouring the dedication, commitment and invaluable contribution of teachers towards education and the holistic development of students.
The programme was graced by Shri Jagannath Chattopadhyay, Hon’ble Minister in Charge, Department of Higher Education and Department of Technical Education, Training & Skill Development, Government of West Bengal, and Chairman, West Bengal State Council of Higher Education, as the Chief Guest and Speaker. The Hon’ble Minister addressed the students and audience, delivering an inspiring and motivating speech.
In his keynote address, Shri Chattopadhyay said, “The NEP 2020 was introduced as a transformative vision for India’s education system with an aim to address deep-rooted challenges while laying the groundwork for a globally competitive, inclusive and future-ready framework. Known as aspirational and revolutionary, the policy set an ambitious goal of being fully implemented by 2030 to 2040, giving a preparation period of ten years to put all its recommendations into action.”
“The NEP envisions an education system rooted in Indian ethos and contributes directly to transforming India, that is Bharat, sustainably into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society by providing high-quality education to all and thereby making India a global knowledge superpower,” he said.
He further added, “These reforms mark a steady step towards achieving NEP’s vision of implementing a holistic, inclusive and technology-integrated education system. The Indian government remains steadfast in its commitment to implementing the NEP as a transformative reform for the education system. Unfortunately, no progress could be made in this regard in our state. As a result, West Bengal missed out considerably in central education funding because the erstwhile state government did not implement the National Education Policy 2020 in its entirety.”
He said that the NEP delineates that quality higher education must aim to develop good, thoughtful, well-rounded and creative individuals, instead of a severely fragmented higher education ecosystem which existed.
“The policy states that by 2040 all higher education institutions must aim to become multi-disciplinary institutions, each of which will aim to have 3000 or more students. There shall, by 2030, be at least one large multi-disciplinary higher education institution in or near every district. The aim will be to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education, including vocational education, from 26.3 per cent in 2018 to 50 per cent by 2035,” he said.
“I take deep pride to say that teachers and faculties are at the heart of this learning process. Their recruitment, continuous professional development, positive working environment and service conditions are the utmost priority of this government. Now that the Government of West Bengal is committed to implementing the NEP, we would collectively strive to achieve a rootedness and pride in India and in its rich, diverse, ancient and modern culture and knowledge system and tradition,” he said.
Giving the example of Swami Vivekananda, he said, “When Swamiji spoke at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago, he was not merely representing a religion, he was representing a philosophy of the human being and this philosophy became in his later years a philosophy of education. His conviction, repeated across his lectures and letters, was that education is not the stuffing of facts into the mind, but the drawing out of a perfection already present within the students.”
The programme was presided over by Rev. Dr. Dominic Savio, SJ, Principal, St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata and President, SXCCAA. In his address, Rev. Fr. Dr. Dominic Savio, SJ, reflected on the deeper purpose and responsibility of teaching, stating:
“A teacher does much more than impart knowledge. A teacher awakens curiosity, builds confidence, nurtures character and helps young people discover their purpose. Our responsibility as teachers is not simply to provide answers, but to cultivate curiosity, critical thinking, conscience and the courage to seek truth.”
The celebration opened with Vande Mataram, followed by an invocation song and dance presented by XADAM (Xaverian Academy of Dance and Music).
A special highlight of the programme was the presentation of the “Xavier’s Award for Excellence in Imparting Education” by the College and SXCCAA to Ten Senior Teachers of the College, namely Dr. Rina Ghosh, Dr. Swati Sarkar, Dr. Tapati Dutta, Dr. Sarbari Guha, Dr. Tridib Sengupta, Dr. Subhankar Ghosh, Dr. Diptiman Saha, Dr. Amitava Roy, Dr. Sumona Ghosh and Dr. Soheli Ghose, in recognition of their exemplary contribution to academia and the holistic development of students. Prof. Bipra Kumar Das was also felicitated on his retirement in appreciation of his dedicated service and contribution to the institution.
The celebration brought together the College leadership, faculty members, alumni and student representatives, reaffirming the enduring bond between the institution and its teaching community. The presence of the Hon’ble Minister of Higher Education added significance to the occasion, particularly as the celebration provided an opportunity to recognise the important role of teachers in shaping not only academic excellence but also character, values and responsible citizenship.
The programme concluded with a Vote of Thanks by Mr. Sanjib Koner, Hony. Secretary, SXCCAA, followed by the ceremonial cake cutting, group photograph and the National Anthem.
