Today’s world has become smaller because of the advancement of transportation system, communication system, advancement of science and technology etc which has made the life of people-to-people contact closer than ever across the region and globe. Indeed, the world has truly become a global village.
The product that is available in Japan may be available in India the very day it is launched and that is the present world that we live in-a world of endless possibility.
However, despite its transformation into a global village which is truly an achievement in itself, have we really ever thought of bridging the gap of the mind of our fellow beings?
For, many years ago, we do not feel the necessity to invent the keys to lock our door or building a wall for guarding our own home from our own being. There were times where we welcome a weary stranger to our home for food and shelter or help someone without any suspicion, expectation or hesitation.
The point is despite such amazing discoveries and inventions due to the necessity of the present times and to make our life easier, luxurious and even comfortable at a lesser cost, we tend to forget to think for a while the degrading values of our time.
Today we could see a dividing family, an irreconcilable difference between a wife and a husband, sister to sister, brother to brother and brother to sister, not to mention about trusting our neighbours who lives next door to us.
Criminal activities, poverty, sexual violence, domestic violence, drug abuse, mob lynching and vice versa has increased manifold despite our advancement in other fields. So, can we really call ourselves as an advance citizensof the present world and the past life as outdated?
Gandhiji said ‘‘a man is but the product of his thoughts. what he thinks, he becomes’’. That is where the roles of the teachercome in to play- to bridge the already dividing lines of the world socially, economically, spiritually, emotionally and vice versa and generate a new class of citizens who can live up to the ever changing challenges of the present times and circumstances which we face.
The teacher has therefore more role to play in the present system, for it is only through education and wisdom that a person may rise above religion, caste, creed or region and may bring peace, unity and humanism around the world.
The teacher should be the window of the child-a window of humanism, values, intellectualactivity, international understanding and a good citizen and for that to happen we have to revamp ourself first to take the rightfulstep of being a window to the child.
A teacher in the modern times should be like a machine which produce goods that has social utility and have a positive impact on the life of the ordinary people but not a machine which produce commodity that poisons peoples’life or destroy the life of the masses.
In the aim of education by Gandhi, no education is worth unless it makes boys and girls a good citizen. Gandhiji aim of education was about drawing out the best in the child and man- mind, body and spirit.
Today, almost every life threatening factors has become a global issue-be it environmental degradation, depression, lack of empathy, communalism, Weapon of Mass Destruction(WMD), terrorism, poverty,i lliteracy, gender violenceetc. that is likely to annihilate the world if no proper step are taken in time and will have consequences effecting us all.
Therefore, the role of the teachers in the present system is to revamp the system by working it out to remove the inconsistencies effecting the society so as to produce a child who can think globally and act locally.
As per data from UDISE, the total number of schools in India is 15.1 lakh. The total number of students in India is 26.44 Crore. The total number of teachers is 96.96 lakh in the academic year 2020-21.
Government schools at10,83,678.
Government Aided schools at 84,614.
Private schools at 3,25,760.
In seven states Manipur, Nagaland, Haryana, Telangana, Puducherry, Uttarakhand and Punjab, the share of private school students was higher of the 34 States/UTs analysed.
However, in recent years, there seems to be a slight push towards private schooling even in the states which has a high share of public school students. In ten states/UT s Puducherry, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Punjab, Nagaland, Delhi and Rajasthan, more than 50 per cent of new admission in the last two years were in private schools.
Moreover, in states such as Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, which has an almost equal share of private and public school goers, over 5000 and 500 new applications were received respectively for opening private unaided schools.
With the present growth in private schools mushrooming, it is assumed that in the future stage, private schools may overtake government schools institution. The growth of private unaided schools in India are as follows:
3.4% in 1978, 9.2% in 1998, 18.2% in 2007, and 34.8% in 2017.
The role of a teachers in private institution are a question worth debating. A small percentage of private school does give a good pay to its staff and cordial environment to work in, however a huge majority of it does not goes to that level.
Considering the sacrifice that a teacher may have to go through in a private institution especially where numbers of students are good, the school institutions should have a rethought about uplifting the lives of its staff through various means and ways rather than profiting it all away.
For a teacher would always work towards improving the values and bringing out the best of the child. The school being a second home to the child, the teacher role takes a pivotal place in it. The school working environment should be cordial for the teacher to teach and the teacher work should not be overloaded and the pay of the staff should be satisfactory for the educators to progress in his/her life.
On this Teacher’s Day, let us think about our teachers who have given us the highest sacrifice by hiding his/her pain behind his face and always willing to smile back, listen to us and taught us all the good things in life. May the good God always be around then in their black and white days of their lives.
I would like to conclude my piece of writing with the thoughtful words by M.K. Gandhi ‘‘I will give you a talisman whenever you are in doubt or when the self becomes too much with you apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man(women) whom you may have seen and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be any use to him(her)’’
HAPPY TEACHER’S DAYS ONCE AGAIN TO ALL THE LOVELY TEACHERS OUT THERE!
(The views expressed are personal)
