New Delhi, Sept. 5 -- President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday described teachers as "frontline nation-builders" and stressed their role in nurturing curiosity, character, confidence and sensitivity among students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, while presenting the National Teachers Awards at Vigyan Bhawan.

Congratulating this year's awardees, Murmu spoke about the contributions of education pioneers including Savitribai Phule, Rabindranath Tagore and Utkalmani Gopabandhu Das, highlighting their efforts to expand education and promote learning in natural surroundings. She cited Tagore's Shantiniketan and Gopabandhu Das's "Van Vidyalaya" or open-air school as examples of the belief that children develop naturally in the l...