WHY TEACHERS HAVE TURNED RELUCTANT

WHY TEACHERS HAVE TURNED RELUCTANT 

Times were when teachers were well respected by students and parents alike. In fact, teachers in small towns were ‘Demigods’ and were well taken care of for daily needs like milk, vegetables and supply of rations. They would not be expected to come in queue to procure rations, as someone else would gladly do it for them. People thought, teachers shall be kept happy if their children were to get the right care and attention for learning. Largely, it worked well, though teachers for long were in a real state of penury leading a hand-to-mouth existence. Poverty did not rob teachers of their dignity, as they never used to make it an issue;  their poverty was just financial while their teaching was rich in quality and content. Knowing their scholarship people held them in reverence-a well-deserved one.

However after 3+ decades of political independence, India witnessed a shift in general trends in Education, Teaching modes, Teacher moods, teacher wages and the resultant teacher vagaries. Bargaining for wage compensation on trade union lines caught up with teachers too. Also, political equations in governments took a turn towards vote-bank politics, trying to establish hold and control over policies/ practices in education. Recruitments to teacher positions started witnessing trends of political intervention and influence. Slowly, wage policies/ disbursement were Government-regulated and started offering better wages and service conditions including security of job and service benefits common in Government-run machinery. With increasing ‘say’ from the government, measures of student-reprimand like physical punishments, use of cane for punitive action were eliminated without providing or suggesting other alternatives to correcting the wrong-doing among the learners.

Social changes like disbanding of joint family in favour of nuclear families brought out a new dispensation of children-parent bondage of enriched or blinding affection. Any action by a teacher punishing the ward earned the ire of parents who started settling scores with teachers by resorting to attacks on teachers or invoking the provision of law leading to transfer, relocation or suspension of teacher by authorities. On all such minor incidents, life for teachers turned bitter with none to lend support; after all any punishment to a learner is with the sole intention of rectifying defects on the part of the learner; it is never the fancy of a teacher to punish an innocent student. This fundamental fact in reprimand was thrown to the winds; teachers were prone to suffer while wrong doing boys/ girls enjoyed parental /political protection.  This rendered the teachers to be mere preachers and they could not survive as practitioners.

If uneducated or ill-educated parents could turn tables on teachers, the latter had the lone option of ‘laughing it off’ whatever be the stupidity / inadequacy of learner. Being humans themselves, their wisdom prevailed to guard their self respect avoiding the ignominy from less educated/ illogical parents; they deemed it fit to stay cool, just teach and move off with no concern for any student. It does not bother them as to what should be done.

 Teachers are keen about what should not be done especially inviting punitive action upon self.  If by emotional anger, a teacher uses some words of scold, the recalcitrant student feels a dent on self esteem and chooses to end life, implicating one or more teachers as causes of his/ her death. NONE DEFENDS A TEACHER. Under such a diabolic state, how will any hapless person come forward to abide by profession ethics with no ethics for any- one else?   Let us understand that, the society has evolved a toothless task force as teachers. Now, there is no point in finding fault with them as inept workers.

Prof. K. Raman