Of our Education and Teachers

Basharat Shameem
The adage that education is the window to the world is too often repeated. It is a well established fact that human progress and development are inextricably linked to learning and knowledge. The path of man’s evolution through ages would testify to this. For quite some time in our state now, much has been talked about our education system; its current state, and the ways to take it to the next level. In all the ponderings related it, the primary focus has evidently been on our teachers. This became more palpable after one of our school teachers, or ReTs, as they are known in the general parlance, audaciously failed to write a simple essay on cow and solve primary level Mathematics questions before a High Court judge. The blemish was not the only of its kind. However, it gave us a fair indication that our sick education system was at its nadir. Now it is not simply affordable for our education system to sink down further. There has to be a massive overhauling of all the fault lines of our education system and not some few alone. This overhauling should be pursued with dedication and priority if we are really serious about the future of our society. For a change, the government has taken a good remedial step of conducting screening test for the teachers. However, what is disconcerting is the unwarranted opposition put forward to this initiative by various interest groups. One of the very rare of its kind in our rather chequered history, this idea of the present government must not be comprehended “as an exercise of humiliating or victimizing the teachers.” Rather, it is about the need to segregate quacks from the ranks of teachers who are not only bringing a bad name to the sacredness of this highly regarded profession but also causing irremediable harm to our society.
The present government of our state in general and Minister of Education in particular must be commended for this move with the hope that many more similar corrective measures are put in place if we truly care about our education system, and thereby our future. Of all the conscientious segments of our society, if ever there was a group of people which would have welcomed the decision first; it should have been the teachers themselves. It is something that is innate in the ethics and responsibilities of their noble profession which they must look at in proud terms. But, as has been the nuisance of our existence in all the spheres, irrelevant politics have been started even before the government puts a small stride forward in giving practical shape to its proposed initiative. The politics being played over the issue is deplorable and is going to do more harm to teacher’s cause than any good.
It is an actuality that this proposed screening test is not alone going to set right our faulty education system; modifications and steps would have to be too comprehensive. The buck cannot and must not stop here. More steps will have to be taken at all the levels to bring our education system out of the decadence that has currently befallen it, and put it on the right track to achieve what it is meant for. To achieve this purpose, there has to be a much needed synergy between the government, the society and the people associated with the profession of education itself. Since a long time, our education system and institutes including our universities have become too solipsistic. There is a real necessity to make them more connected to our larger society by bringing in vibrancy and inclusion.
As the situation demands, it is not about the teachers alone; many more questions need to be asked to the people who are responsible for recruiting our teachers, to those who create our curriculum, to those who formulate our education policies, and to those who supervise or administer our educational system. Is our curriculum eclectic? Is it humanistic? Does it promote plural values? Is it in line with the contemporary needs and demands? Does it produce critically thinking intellectuals or just ‘obedient’ subjects? Are our methods of teaching up to the mark or too outdated?
Without doubt, a teacher is an essential component in the system of our education, or, for that matter, our society, but he is not alone accountable for the proper running of the either of the two. Let’s use this occasion to draw our collective thoughts to the often ignored aspects which pertain to the position of teachers in our society. We cannot put all the burden of building our society on a teacher. Even as we rightly expect teachers to develop our society and civilization, there is also a need to look dispassionately at the innumerable problems that they face in our societal setup. Aristotle had remarked about the teachers, “Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those, the art of living well,” and specifically, it is where we, as a society, including our governments, have failed our teachers both in the confines of a classroom and more outside it. Laying aside the clichéd notions that we have construed about our teachers, do they get the honour that they deserve? While we go on sermonizing them about the high sanctity and ethics that their profession carries, we profusely refuse to pay attention to the fact that they deserve an honourable living. Add to this, how on earth can the village level Panachayat and town level Municipal committees act, having absolutely no idea of what education is, as the regulatory bodies of supervising the education and teachers at the local levels as our government has decided? Isn’t it a disgrace to the credentials of dedicated teachers? As matters stand today, various studies have revealed that many of our teachers are unable to do the best of which they are capable. For this there are a number of reasons which need our immediate attention. It has often been stated by the great philosophers of education that it should be the aim of the educator to train a child free from the psychological misfortunes, and not rob child of his happiness. But have we ever thought about our teachers who face a similar predicament? Have we ever thought about their own children who too deserve a good quality living? Our successive governments have put adhocism in place, and our teachers are paid an appalling amount of Rs 1500 or Rs 3000 in this day and age when University professors are paid in lakhs. Yet, in ironical terms, we expect these very teachers to be the guardians of our civilisation. It is something of which our down to business Minister of Education can take a due note. This kind of treatment meted out to our teachers can be described, at best, bizarre. It has also a tragic undercut because it is equivalent to robbing a teacher of his happiness. And in such pathetic circumstances, how is he going to foster critical attitude among the learners? Urgent initiatives are also needed to eradicate this agony which is simply a bare form of exploitation. The instant requirement is to free our teachers from all these constraints which get in the way of fulfilling their true roles, besides granting them proper respect and recognition.
(The author is lecturer english Directorate of Distance Education University of Kashmir)
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