Should teaching be a lifelong profession?
Last two months I have
been working in the government schools as part of a CSR project. The schools
belong both to rural and urban areas. This experience made me skeptic about
people pursuing teaching as a lifelong profession. It is true that there are
inspiring teachers; many others are there to spend each moment with passion,
commitment and dedication with their children to impart education in the true
sense. Despite this noble act of the few, the situation in government school
continues to be grim and a tragedy for the future generation to come. When I
write about the pathetic condition of government schools, whether the private
schools fulfill their noble objectives of educating the younger generation is a
debatable topic.
I could not help
writing what I could see in the government schools both in rural and urban
areas. And the query that overwhelms my mind is if teaching should be pursued
as a lifelong profession? If yes, should an unemployed youth be allowed to
become a teacher having acquired a certificate for pursuing the profession
without the genuine interest in molding the young minds, interest in
behavioural modification of children, quest for innovative teaching practices, sensitivity
and sensibility to deal with the children who needs special care and attention
and above all having no interest in acting as a facilitator for a better world,
and a more civilized humanity. Or shouldn’t there be a system to detect the
‘employees’ who are incompetent and apathetic towards the budding minds and to
place them in some other departments according to their interest and skills? It
is high time that all the aspiring teachers were not allowed to be employed
unless they hold the true passion for the noble profession. And also there
should be a monitoring system that detects the teachers who do not evince a
strong desire to impart education to the children. It should not be the last
resort of an unemployed youth to secure his /her life by jeopardizing the
possibility of growth and development of promising offspring of our nation.
Another pertinent question is how long one can sustain the real spirit of an
inspiring teacher? Shouldn’t our education system be empowered with vibrant
imaginative and committed human resource? Shouldn’t there be a system that
stimulates teachers to shift to some other profession when they find no more
valuable to the student community? And it is quite unlikely to expect somebody
to quit the profession voluntarily on the recognition of their lethargic
service delivery unless there is a system to rehabilitate them.
If our government and civil
society act vigorously with a sense of purpose we can transform the school
campus a place where children are nurtured for their self-development and
progress of the nation. The role of community is very crucial. Otherwise we
will find teachers ‘wobbling’ to the classroom yawning on the way, chanting content
of lessons in the classroom and controlling the children with ‘weapons’ of
thrashing. They will hold a text book, a chalk, old manuscripts if needed to
complete the half an hour session in a ritualistic manner. In such schools the
staff room is not a place to discuss effective ways to deal with various issues
of children, professional development, the issues of class room discipline,
innovative methods to impart education, remedial measures to improve the
academic performance of children, improving the infrastructure, ways to ignite
the young minds, and above all searching for creative methods while dealing
with children, through interdependence. Such employees engaged in teaching will
be least bothered about the seriousness and significance of being a teacher to
several children. They will not recognize the value of relationship, creativity
and need of imparting principles of life and kindling dreams in the minds of
children. They will work like a cog in a machine until their retirement.
Establishing a monitoring
system at schools, employing genuine teachers, prospect for their professional
development, opportunity for shifting to other departments if they are found
unfit for the teaching profession by themselves or by the monitoring system and
ultimately measures to ensure the presence of self-motivated teaching community
on school campus will definitely pave the way for the emergence of a brighter
generation.
