When he met the winners of the National Teachers Awards, PM Narendra Modi also flagged the drugs issue and urged teachers to remain alert to changes in children. (File Photo)Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged winners of the National Teachers Awards to raise awareness among parents about excessive screen time use among children, according to an official statement on Saturday.During an interaction at his residence on Friday, PM Modi asked the teachers to speak to parents about how much time their children spend on screens and whether they continue using mobile phones at night.According to the statement, PM Modi said the screen time issue had “become a major concern”. He also suggested that children could reduce excessive screen use by developing an interest in sports, physical games, and creative activities.This year, 82 teachers and educators have been selected for the National Teachers Awards.#TeachersDay is about appreciating the strong contribution of teachers to our society. It is also a day to pay homage to Dr. S. Radhakrishnan.Here is what happened when the National Teachers’ Awards winners were invited to 7, LKM yesterday…. pic.twitter.com/LtXTvHiQoQ— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 5, 2026Referring to the National Education Policy, PM Modi stressed the importance of taking children outside the classroom and connecting them with real-world skills and forms of work. “He also asked teachers to go beyond imparting knowledge about syllabus and help inculcate values such as dignity of labour amongst the children,” the statement said.Referring to the decline of the joint family setup, PM Modi said teachers have an increasingly important role to play in the lives of children, and emphasised that they should look beyond students’ academic performance and pay attention to their behaviour and everyday lives.As per the statement, PM Modi also flagged the drugs issue and called upon teachers to remain alert to changes in children, identify the cause, and help them overcome the habit.“Prime Minister said that preserving the innocence of childhood is an important role that a teacher can play…children have the same basic nature and curiosity and if teachers nurture and appropriately channelise this curiosity, they can make a significant contribution to their development,” the statement said.Story continues below this adOf the teachers selected for the national awards this year, 48 are from the Department of School Education and Literacy, 21 are from higher educational institutions and polytechnics, and 13 are skill trainers from the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.The awardees also highlighted the experiences and innovations that have shaped their teaching journey and shared several creative approaches they adopted to make classroom learning more engaging and effective, the statement said.