Happy Teachers’ Day

Sravan Kumar

With all passion and dedication for teaching, Abdul Malik, a primary school teacher from the Malappuram district of Kerala prefers to swim in the river to reach the school on time so that he could spend more time with his pupils. After resigning from the office of the vice chairman of NITI Ayog, Aravind Panagariya resumed his professorship in Economics in Columbia University, USA.

The people’s president, missile man late Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam always preferred to be addressed as a teacher and coincidentally he breathed his last while delivering a lecture to the students of IIM, Shillong. When forced to celebrate his birthday, the first vice president of India Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan decided to celebrate his birthday as Teachers Day and dedicated it to the nation builders who are vital for the all-round development of a nation. Are all these instances of modern India not enough to signify the importance of teaching as a profession?

We live in a society of double standards. Whenever we are given a podium to express our deepest gratitude towards our teachers, without any second thought we reiterate the couplets of Kabir Das ”Guru Govind dou khade kake lagun paye..” which literally keeps the Guru at a higher position than the God. We never hesitate to acknowledge the contribution of teachers in our life and making us what we are and flood the social media conveying the same. But we never preferred teachership as our first choice of employment. We feel proud to be the offspring of a teacher, but never opted to fill in the shoes of our teacher parents in that profession. isn’t it a paradox?

Behind this calculated move of every aspiring job seeker, there are multiple stakeholders who can be held accounted for. Our education system, the meagre budgetary allocation for education and the people’s perception towards teaching as a profession are key factors. The so called educated people of the society point fingers towards the competencies of the teachers, question their calibre but never venture into the education sector as a means of livelihood. As long as the profession of imparting education and teaching remains the last resort of employment, the progress of the society will be a distant dream.

For most of the readers, I am sure, their respective class toppers are not in this very profession. To attract the brightest minds into teaching and to give the teachers a respectable position in the society in terms of financial stability, the government has to make this job avenue more lucrative by giving salaries and remuneration at par with other professions. Even there was a time when the students were involved in creating a Guru Panthi (teacher’s fund) to help the depleting financial condition of their teachers. Thanks to the subsequent pay commissions which helped in establishing some sort of financial stability especially for the primary school teachers. Though from the land of Maharshi Vasistha and Guru Dronacharya, we are very poorly rated globally as far as the importance of the teachers in the society is concerned where as our arch rival China tops in that category.

This is high time to focus on the qualitative aspect of the teachers. In this period of speedy internet penetration and app based learning, the teachers have to upgrade their skills, get acquainted with integration of technology in disseminating knowledge and keep an eye on the holistic development and character building of the students. In the name of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, teachers shouldn’t not be burdened with other auxiliary activities to maintain the records and other official formalities. Preparing the voter list, getting involved in the census shouldn’t be a hindrance for the teachers in delivering their duties. The authorities in the highest echelon of education system should create an infrastructure that would promote and encourage research and innovation and ensure zero brain drain.

The teaching fraternity shouldn’t dilute the purity and piousness of this noble profession. This is the field of work when performed with utmost sincerity makes a mere mortal an immortal icon. The person who is shouldered with the responsibility of character building shouldn’t be indulged in character assassination through the heinous act of sexual harassment in educational institution. In this controversial time of growing intolerance, they should encourage the enthusiasm to voice the unvoiced, agree to disagree and question the unquestionable. They should be the apostle of byaktinirman, parivar nirman and samajnirman.

On a personal note, Oh Teacher..! Undoubtedly I am not the Ram with all the heavenly virtues, but you are my Vasistha. I may not be made of the qualities of a warrior like Arjun, but you are definitely my Dronacharya. In reality, I may not be a Shivaji to become the Chatrapati, but you are my guru Ramdas.I may not have the potency to preach before the world religious congress at Chicago like Vivekananda, but you are my Ramakrishna. I may not have the wings of fire, but you have ignited my mind like Dr. Kalam.

Oh my dear Gurus, take a bow for all the lessons we have learnt from you for a life time and making us what we are. May you all be there in pink of your health and sound mind to enlighten the young minds and transform the nation. Our deepest gratitude to the great teacher who decided to dedicate one day in calendar exclusively for the teachers.

(Prajna Prasad Sravan Kumar is an IT Professional and currently based at Kolkata)