Leading from the Front: Yesterday and Today

*Loveleen Kaur

A teacher's profession, duty and the contribution remains to be venerable and noble. For the selfless work in knowledge dissemination through out the ages the teacher has been worshipped as God.

The Sanskrit Shloka:    Gurur-Brahma Gurur-Vishnu Gurur-Devo Maheshwarah.

Guru-sakshat Para-Brahma tasmai Shri Gurave Namah.

Teacher is the creator, operator and finisher.

The Teacher is the Real God, I salute the divine teacher

Saint Kabir:      Guru govind dhovu khade, kake lagav paay

Balihari guru apne, jin govind diyo bataye

Whom should I show reverence when I meet my Guru and the God ?

Surely, to my Guru who has told me about the God.

In fact this is the kind of role the teachers have been playing since ages in India. Guru Nanak, Sri Chaitanya trained us in devotion, love and submission. Sufi saints carried the illustrious tradition of learning and knowledge acquisition through preaching harmony and humanitarian values. Then we had people like Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Gandhiji, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and APJ Abdul Kalam. These illustrious people have rekindled our faith in us and motivated to contribute to our collective growth.

The present day a teacher's profession is facing serious challenges. Moreover, the challenges to teachers are changing fast and becoming more daunting at the onset of information revolution. The teachers have stood up to the challenge and have shown exceptional commitment to their work. However, the need to have sustained flow of committed people in this service has been a major concern. Bright people with a passion for teaching are required to be attracted to this profession and for this the government needs to create an ambience of growth and infuse more energy in this service. This can be done by giving the teachers a rightful place in the society and the polity by recognising their work and creating more opportunities for them and by giving them a competitive salary so that many youngsters having a passion for teaching get attracted and chose this profession. To create a massive team of youngsters as potential teachers we need to make our entry to teacher training programmes flexible and more open. The entry should only not focus on the result of the qualifying examination and the career of the student; it has to look for the interest and passion for teaching in the applicant, which has been a neglected aspect so far. Many people who secure good marks in their career may no have the inclination, bent of mind or simply the dedicated passion to be a part of the teaching learning process. So in such a situation the government needs to encourage talents and nurture talents in the college education framework for a teaching career.

In almost all circumstances in our country the teaching learning exercises are centred and driven by the quality of teaching. At a time when students are facing variety of problems ranging from parental attention to concentration and learning attitude to self identity, the role of a teacher is poised to change, accommodate and expand. Teachers become second parent, a counsellor, a friend and a supporter. The old maxim the teacher is a friend, a philosopher and a guide reminds of the immense value of a teacher in our life. We need to give utmost focus to the government primary school teachers and make their payments and incentives at par with the public school teachers and create opportunities for innovation in teaching.

*The author is a Delhi based Life Skill Trainer*