Tomorrow, 5th September, is Teachers' Day. Teachers are indeed the ones who exert such a great influence of the young minds which make or break our times. This day is a tribute to Dr. Radhakrishnan, our philosopher president, who was a teacher par excellence himself. He wanted his birthday to be celebrated in a way as to honour the teachers in this country which held them on par with parents and gods - 'maathaa-pithaa guru deivam'. Guru is what he/she is called, that is one who dispels darkness from out of a disciple's mind. In this juncture, we better remember what Plato said of people being afraid of light:'One could easily forgive a child who is afraid of darkness. But the real tragedy is that people are afraid of light!'
In today's Young World of the Hindu, a Xth Standard girl, Amol Singh Raswan, of St. Joseph's Convent School, Pathankot, Warrangal, Andhra Pradesh, wrote: 'God sends angels in everyone's life who help one tide over one's problems and succeed in life. One such person in my life is my school's Vice-Principal... Adolescence is a tumultuous part of a person's life during which he/she can either accelerate or stagnate in life's journey, and a lot depends on the kind of guidance he/she receives. I too, like a normal teenager, faced several problems in Stdm IX. I was like a lost stream in a dreary desert, and found solace in the boundless wisdom of .... She helped me with the management of new responsibilities...as well as with the stress, a normal teenager falls in.
Apart from this, she is an exemplary person who is always happy, calm, optimistic and confident. Her oratory skills impress and motivate many...' Don't our students too deserve such a motivating, empowering and enriching teacher like the one mentioned above? Are not our teachers duty-bound to uphold the great tradition set forth by the great Radhakrishnan and such other great teachers to inspire, challenge and strengthen the future of our society and nation at large?
Yesterday, the Hindu again in its OP-ED page gave a write up by Justice Markandey Katju, presently the chairman of the Press Council of India, titled "Professor, teach thyself." Referring to his meeting with some of the top senior academiciams in Delhi where he was told of the budget of University Grants Commission to the tune of Rs.41,000 crores in the Five Year Plan and the annual budget of JNU about Rs. 150 crore. This prpmpted him to say: How has this benefited the Indian masses? It seems that the huge funds being ploughed into... are to give you professors huge salaries and fine houses to live in rather than to benefit the Indian people."
Again referring to a student promoted to Std. VIII in a village, not knowing simple mathematics problems, he wonders how had the boy been promoted! On enquiry the boy seemed to have told: 'the teacher has become a contractor, and the next teacher does not come to take classes.' He continues: "... much of the real real education takes place in private coaching institutes, or at the residence of teachers who make much more money there than in their institutions... In many of the staffrooms our our educational institutions, teachers, instead of discussing academic matters, often discuss petty politics, often of a casteist nature or matters pertaining to their service conditions... Finally he posed them another question: the test of every system is one simple question. Does it raise the standard of living of the masses or not?... The purpose of education is to help raise the standard of living of the masses. But in India it seems that its purpose is to raise the standard of living of a handful of people who get jobs as teachers..." It was not to insult them but was only to voice genuine grievance about the educational system in India, and the need to make it more beneficial to the masses. The teachers agreed that the views expressed required serious debate... Let us also deliberate over it and do our share to enrich, empower our youngsters and thereby to build a robust India we all would feel proud of....
