In a world where teaching, as a profession is looked down upon, the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) is trying to restore the lost legacy of teaching.
India has historically been a land of great educators and mentors with their vision and idea of revolutionising Indian education. From Roy to Tagore, India has seen a lineage of visionaries, but, with the coming in of commercialisation and private education, have we lost the worth of our teachers?
To counter this growing disrespect towards education as a career, the NCTE is planning to weed out the poorly-performing institutions in providing Bachelor of Education as a degree. In a report by The Hindu, NCTE chairperson Satbir Bedi said, “The B.Ed has become a degree for marriage, not teaching. That must change…Our agenda is to close down the bad colleges.” The move by NCTE aims to include 700 model institutions (at least one per district), a new leadership training programme for principals and headteachers, and an experimental international teaching qualification
Poor institutions exist solely for the ‘namesake’ without any intention of imparting academic or vocational skills required to be a teacher. This not only points towards the sorry state of India’s higher educational institutions but also, the sorry and depreciating state of teaching. Dr Bedi stated to The Hindu, “This oversupply is the main reason for the derogation of the teaching profession. That’s why they get away with paying 2,000-3,000 per month for a teacher who is supposed to be a leader, a motivator, a counselor to a generation of children.” The growing lack of interest in pursuing a B.Ed arises from the negative factor of being underpaid.
Nandini Sukhija, who is the daughter of a teacher, exclaims, “I’m personally appalled by the way, in which the profession of teaching is viewed these days, both by educational institutions as well as the students and their parents. The work culture is turning worse each day, where even giving wages to employees is seen as a favour. This includes teachers, who are either given extremely low salaries or are asked to “justify” their worth. Educating the future of the nation is a mammoth-sized job, and to do that, respect and dignity in the teaching profession is a prerequisite.”
Teachers for the sake of ‘degree’ are being produced in masses, each year, from institutions that hardly pay any attention to imparting the right values. The education sector deserves teachers who are paid according to their capabilities and efforts. Cutting down on ‘bad’ colleges would not only give way to prominent higher education but also reduce the number of disinterested students who have no desire to take up teaching as a profession.
The causal attitude surrounding the teaching industry points towards the glaring disrespect and disregard which has garnered over the years to one of the noblest professions out there. Prithika Dasgupta, whose mother is an educationist, says, “Teachers are losing their value in schools and colleges, they are being taken for granted. They are the ones who help in growing and shaping other careers. They lay the foundation stone of a child’s future and it is time that they get the long-due respect that they deserve.”
In reference to an article by The Hindu
Feature Image Credits: Livemint
Anandi Sen