Mangaluru: Though the district has been leading in terms of quality education and literacy rate, the number of aspirants for civil services is abysmal. Measures have to be taken to develop interest in top government posts among students, said Dakshina Kannada deputy director of public instruction V Shivaramaiah.

He was addressing high school teachers and PU lecturers during a workshop organised by the Sharada Vidyalaya in collaboration with the student edition of Vijaya Karnataka,  sister publication, here on Friday.

It is the responsibility of the teachers to promote interest among students. It is inappropriate to pressurise them. They need to enjoy the academics, he opined. “Teachers can succeed only when they love their job. They play an integral role in moulding the character of a student,” Shivaramaiah said.

Chairman of Sharada Group of Institutions M B Puranik said education is not a means to generate money but a power to progress in life. He said students need not study for marks or employment but to develop knowledge and discipline. “Parents, too, need to learn that their wards are not money minting machines,” he said.

Resource person for the programme Rajendra Bhat K, a high school teacher from Inna M V Shastri High School, said: Education should be for life and the onus lay on the teachers in this regard. Teachers need to be role models for students in terms of disciple and behaviour.