In his inaugural address, District Education Officer V B Nanavati emphasised that to keep a nation's culture alive, it was essential to integrate the cultural values into the syllabus. He stated that a majority of the schools had become distant from the prevailing social circumstances following the tremendous growth in the field of Information Technology in the past five years.

``Only a handful schools have been able to keep pace with development. As such, today's students are on a more progressive stage of social development than their teachers. Hence, teachers have to undertake a greater responsibility in understanding the students' social approach and simultaneously impressing upon them the importance of the cultural values that they are moving away from,'' he said.

President of the City Teachers' Association and Principal of Alembic School Harshadrai Patel said that the onus of preserving India's rich cultural legacy for the future was on the educational institutions and not the government machinery. Vice-Chairman of the Gujarat New Era Education Trust, Nandita Amin entreated the teachers to ``do away with the boring routine of sticking to the syllabus and adopt a systematised manner of teaching inviting students' participation in the process of education''. ``There is much material to draw from the country's music, literature, history, natural habitat, spiritual wealth that can hone students' personality. Delve into the cultural elements and associate them with your subjects,'' she added.

An exhibition on cultural heritage of India by the New Era students was also organised on the occasion.