teachers - present or absent

Recently, the Governmentof Tamilnadu gave a strictwarning to all the Government teachers that disciplinary actions would be taken on teachers who failed to carry out their duties. This comes in the wake of a surprise check made by officials to a Adi Dravida Welfare Primary School on Flowers Road, Purasawalkam. They found that only one student and the headmistress were present in the whole of the campus. After verification they found that the students had been sent home early by teachers and there were no proper registration of attendance.

There are teachers who spend most of the time in the staff rooms than classrooms. Its now the turn of the teachers to say, Present or Absent.

This might look like an isolated case but the truth is many schools are facing a similar situation. Students, who are supposed to be studying either while away the time in school or on play grounds. There are teachers who spend most of the time in the staff rooms than classrooms. There are instances where the students who fail to join tuitions run by the class teachers were being victimised. They will get low marks, sidelined and at times even harsher punishments like beatings for even small mistakes.
But there are hundreds of dedicated teachers who are genuinely concerned with the welfare of the students. They not only "teach" the curriculum but inspire the students and set examples by their thirst for knowledge and exemplary behaviour. Our dear Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam is a shining example. But the sad fact is this species of dedicated teachers is dwindling by the day. They are in fact becoming an exception rather than the rule.
When we contacted few students from govt run institutions they gave mostly positive remarks for all the teachers. Priya, a student of Tarapore Group of Schools says, " We never had a science teacher till our Quarterly Examinations and then they appointed one teacher after pressure from the students. When we have doubts and approach her, she will simply read out the same paragraph back to us. I go for private tuitions to compensate this. There are some teachers who are excellent in their subjects".
A high school student from Arangaiya Naidu School requesting anonymity says, "All the teachers we have are excellent except for our Tamil Miss, Most of her classes will be like free periods. We will be asked to read the text for ourselves. And when we go and raise any issues we get caned". One more student from his class also voices the same opinion.
Schools in rural areas paint a very grim picture. Sources say that majority of the schools in villages are run with skeletal or no staffs at all. In a recent survey it was found that 42,000 schools in India have no teachers and in states like Karnataka , schools are run without any students and the management produce fake records and take home the paychecks. There are also allegations that during examinations the school authorities let the students indulge in malpractices. This way the results will show the teachers have prepared the students well.
Nayagam, a retired state award winning headmaster accepts that there are shortcomings in the school administration especially in the rural sector. He adds that the private school teachers are paid less than their government counterparts. Private teachers fare better since they are subject to constant supervision and accountability. Once the teachers are made accountable there will be definitely a positive change in the effective functioning of schools.
The Government on its part has been very considerate in allotting more holidays to them then any other department staffs. They are entitled to 2 months annual summer holidays with full pay and they get holiday during study leave for students. They also enjoy the benefits of Medical and Casual holidays. They are paid well but still they feel that they are not being paid. It is disheartening to see many of the teachers staging demonstrations and hunger protests for hike in pay scale. If they show at least a part of these efforts in educating their students, it can have phenomenal effects, opines an educationist.
Doctors may take the credit for their profession to be noble but nobler are the teachers who impart all their knowledge for the students to come up in life. There are some teachers who take such great concern for every student in the class. A teacher with nearly three decades of experience claims that every old student she meets gives her exuberant welcome irrespective of the place they meet. It gives immense pleasure to see the students we trained making it successful in life. "Even though we are old enough to be grandmother still we are MISS to our students!".
As Nayagam points out, that teachers should be made aware that students are National Property. The best thing that can happen to Education in our country, is the teachers realizing that they are handling this treasure and do so with utmost dedication and with proper care.. It is high time the teachers acknowledged that teaching is not just a profession but a life time vocation.
Its now the turn of the teachers to say, Present or Absent.