Online Educatation Blog

Yesterday – the 5th September was celebrated all over the country as Teachers’ Day – a day when the country shows its appreciation of all those who have taken it up on themselves to build societies of the future. Although, the date of Teachers’ Day vary from country to country, it is held on 5th September in India in remembrance of the birth day of Dr.Sarvapalli Radhakrishnana, the great academic philosopher and second President of India. In tune with the rest of the country, our big village council also organized a gathering of teachers at the local town hall. In total, teachers from 18 schools attended the celebration. There were lots of cultural program like music and dance performed by teachers along with discussion on teaching. In between refreshments in the form of tea, snacks and sweets were given. So it was a day meant only for teachers. On 4th Sept. the students became teachers as they conducted and taught in the classes.
During the discussion I was forced to do introspection about the prevalent education system and the way teachers are teaching. I am sorry to say that – nothing is right with it. The prolonged terrorism in the area has not helped either as no teacher wants to go to work in interior schools. Those schools exist just in the government’s record book. In urban areas where there is no fear of terrorism – most teachers have made education a commercial item. Education being primarily a government’s operation, there is hardly any accountability for what teachers do and how they teach. So teachers just somehow pass their time in schools and give private tuitions to students for hefty fees. The situation has become so bad that even after government circulation and bond signature; teachers are still continuing this harmful practice. It has given rise to a culture where students and their guardians think that they could not do good results without private tuitions. This commercialization of education by selfish teachers is the single most important factor that is paralyzing the educational system in my locality.
I sometimes feel ashamed of my colleagues, but the reality is that, here teachers are held in low esteem by the society as well as government. It is taken by people that, a teacher has joined the occupation only because he has no alternative to earn money. Also salary of teachers is not commensurate with their qualifications and compared to other professions. Hence, the local government is also responsible for the current sorry state of affairs in the education system.
Anyway, I can’t do much – except doing my job as honestly as possible with total dedication. I should not be doing what others are doing, the situation might change someday as new policies are being introduced and laws formed.