A friend once told
me, “Whenever I make my annual home visit to Kerala I make it a point to visit
my two surviving primary teachers.†Regretting that ‘today teachers are not
respected like the ones of old’ he did specify the reasons for the lack of respect
for teachers today.
In the good old days
there were much fewer teachers. Today teachers are aplenty. When this writer
was a Primary school kid there were just the three teachers in the village.
They were adored not just by the students but by the whole village community.
They were also the leaders in the village. Naturally they were accorded the
highest esteem. A head count today of teachers today in the village might take
the number close to 50 (excluding those who have relocated outside the
village). So obviously, these teachers can’t command the same veneration as
those three teachers in the late 1970s.
The limited number of
teachers of yesterday years did not take away their commitment and dedication.
In 1986 class VI students had to write public examination. It was considered a
prestigious examination. This writer vividly remembers the teachers who coached
and trained him and his classmates through remedial classes in Maths, English
and other subjects in the morning and evening, before and after school for more
than three months. This was totally free. We were also told every day by every
teacher, “If you need you can come to my house at any time.†Students would do
so without any hesitation. No wonder the batch did exceedingly well. Bragging
might be but this individual scored 80% plus. His companions did even better. Unfortunately
not long after Class VI was no longer a public test.
Today do we have such
teachers? Are teachers willing to take
remedial classes for free? It is feared ‘No’! My limited experience in schools
tells that remedial classes are quite an unwelcomed suggestion. Sadly, most
teachers always link additional classes to additional remuneration. If extra
bucks are unavailable the proposal would be rejected, including by those in the
government roll pay. The Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma has also
proposed remedial classes in ‘needing’ schools to improve the SSLC
results. The proposal could be
implemented in the form of a government scheme. On their own it is highly
doubtful that these schools would volunteer to conduct free remedial classes
for their own students. In such a scenario certainly the admiration for
teachers is bound to slide down. Self-sacrificing and selfless teacher are
probably a rare breed today. The sheer multiplication of teachers in the
present age does not mean we lose the much appreciated values.
This takes us to the
menace of tuition. Today right from nursery students go for tuition. It was
almost non-existent in our time. Tuition was meant for the weaker students. It
was quite rare to have a tutor. Today it has become a fashion. It is a
necessity. Tutors, particularly in Mathematics and Science, make good money. They
earn multiple times more than their salary. Full times tuition is very also lucrative.
Tuition is one of the reasons for securing ranks. In cities students who excel
in public examinations, their photographs with percentages are displayed in
billboards at entrances of tuition centres. So the credit should go to whom,
the classroom teachers or the tuition centre teachers? If teachers are losing
respect, blame it on themselves or on commercialisation of education, if we want
to find an excuse route.
In an orientation
session a resource person asked these questions: (i) Who is the current Miss
Universe? (ii) Which country won the last FIFA World Cup? (iii) Name one
ancient civilization (iv) Which planet is no more a planet? (v) Where is the
statue of Liberty located? None of the attending teachers got all the answers
right. The conclusion is clear. A teacher can be a mere ‘textbook’ teacher.
Everyone is not expected to be a wizard but in this information age, a
‘textbook teacher – nothing more nothing less’ will find it hard to make his/her
class creative, thus interesting.
Creativity
is perhaps not a strong point in teachers. This is because our education system
does not encourage originality. There is little room for innovation, novelty, and imagination. Our examination
system is basically memory testing. Notes are given in class. Answers are
identical. One is surprised that notes are given even at the B. Ed level.
Trainees are busy making photo copies instead of spending time to create
‘unique’ notes through consultation in the library. Future teachers are
expected to mug up these ‘repeated’ circulated notes and reproduce them in
examinations. So how do you expect them to be creative when they join a school?
Dr. APJ Kalam is supposed to have said, “Creativity is the key to success in
the future and primary education is where teachers can bring creativity in
children at that level.â€
In states like Meghalaya,
teachers’ absenteeism is believed to be very high. In the website of the
Education Department, Government of Meghalaya there is a report of a study by t
he Directorate of Educational Research and Training (DERT)
on Teachers’ Absenteeism but there is no data on the malpractice. However, the
dereliction of duties is widespread and it shows up in the end product in the
form of abysmal Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) results. If a
teacher neglects this very basic duty how does he or she earn respect from
pupils and the general public?
Absenteeism
is a national problem. A Google
search shows that many states have taken steps to eradicate the menace.
Telengana
, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Tripura and
Assam have introduced biometric
attendance. Why have states like Meghalaya not done the same to get rid
of laxity of teachers? The answer could be ready-made – the issue of internet
connection in rural areas. States like Uttarakhand gave the same excuse until
in 2018 when a
Public Interest Litigation in the high court forced the
government to introduce biometric attendance system in all government
educational institutions within 24 months. Something similar should happen here
in all the states.
Dr
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the academician, philosopher-author and India's
second president who ‘instituted’ September 5th as Teachers' Day and Dr. APJ
Abdul Kalam, the People’ president and a teacher till the
very end can be an inspiration to regain our lost ground. Happened to be from
the South both came from humble beginnings. Both were awarded the
Bharat Ratna, the highest
civilian award in the country and both became the
Presidents of India.
Born in a poor Brahmin family in Madras Dr. Radhakrishnan
is considered one of India's best and most influential
scholars in comparative religion and philosophy and
climbed
to the rank of a Vice-Chancellor of universities
. Dr.
Kalam’s early life is even more inspirational
.
A son of a boat
owner, an average student in school, a newspaper distributer, he obtained
multiple doctorates and became ‘India’s missile man. For both great men hard
work was their trait.
Both
were loved teachers. An acclaimed teacher of Philosophy in higher institutions
like the Madras Presidency College, the Maharaja's College, Mysore, the
University of Calcutta, the University of Oxford and later distinguished
himself as the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University and Banaras Hindu
University the then already President declined celebration of his birth day in
1962 and instead proposed celebration of teachers’ day instead.
Dr. Kalam was not a professional teacher per say but
he was a treasured guest lecturer in various institutes.
He passed away
on 27 July
2015 while delivering a lecture on "Creating a Livable Planet Earth"
at the Indian Institute of Management, Shillong. He is remembered as a teacher.
During his presidency he often visited schools and colleges. The images of him
informally interacting with students and children are vivid in many minds.
