Obama gives back-to-school speech

   U.S. President Barack Obama has urged American school children to work hard and not giving a pedagogical discourse that has triggered a one-sided polemic.
In a speech Tuesday in a school in Virginia, Obama said the future of children in their countries depended on their performance.

But conservatives have complained that attempts to indoctrinate children to serve its political agenda.

The wording of some teaching tools have changed since the review.

'Hard work'

In his speech, Obama to students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, that in addition to teachers, parents and the government, they are responsible for academic success.

"No matter what you want to do with your life - I guarantee you'll need an education to do it," he said.

As well as individual success, the future success of the country will depend on it, Mr Obama said in the speech.

The speech was broadcast on a cable TV station and on the White House website.

"Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book," Mr Obama said.

"Being successful is hard," Mr Obama added - and he pointed to figures such as JK Rowling and Michael Jordan, who he said overcame initial failures in order to find success.

"No-one's born being good at things."

'Socialist ideology'

But even before President Obama had delivered his speech, it was attracting criticism from conservatives.

Some said it was not promoting education but aimed at indoctrinating children into supporting the president.

Last week, Florida Republican Party chairman Jim Greer said he was "absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama's socialist ideology".

Parents' complaints that the speech would be one-sided prompted some school districts not to broadcast it, and others to allow parents to withdraw their children.

On Monday, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs rejected the criticism, calling it a "sad, sad day that the political back-and-forth has intruded on anyone's speaking to schoolchildren and parents about the responsibilities they have".

But the education department acknowledged that a teaching aid which suggested students write about "how they could help the president" was poorly worded.

It released an amended version.

In light of the change, Mr Greer said he now approved of the address, reported Associated Press.