TEACHERS??? MISFORTUNE
OF NATION
Though, I do believe that every occupation, profession or
job require specific aptitude to do justice with the respective job. But I read
somewhere on facebook:
“एक इंजीनियर की गलती ईट ओर चुने मे दब जाती है , एक चिकित्सक की गलती क्रब मे दब जाती है , एक वकील की गलती फाइल मे दब जाती है जबकि एक शिक्षक की गलती पूरे राष्ट्र के जीवन मे झलकती है !”
In this context, I do remember my
reply to my father when I was doing B.A. with Honours in English, which may be
relevant here. Like so many middle class fathers, or I would say lower middles
class, my father also wanted a safe career; a teaching career, for me.
Therefore, after seeing my great interest in English Literature he strongly
favoured M.A. English for me for chasing teaching as a source of livelihood. I can’t
say whether it was in respectful or disrespectful manner, but my flat reply was:
“Of course I love literature and I will love to do master degree in English
literature, but I am not fit to become a teacher. I don’t have requisite virtues
of a teacher which I can bestow on students” In fact, let me confess since
school days, I was a kind of notorious student; involved in so many crazy activities,
including Boxing Sports and all type of other teenage vices of lower middle
class students studying in Govt. schools.
Now, I come across several teachers
both a school as well at the level of higher education level; who are farce in
the name of teaching, completely unfit to be a role model for a student. The
rampant JBT Recruitment Scams, happened during the rule of all political
parties, are the live demonstrating examples before us. And, my personal encounter
with some teachers is so fierce that I struggle hard to generate any kind of
respect for them. They are so viciously politicised that they don’t and cant
have time left to devote on students. Though, so socio-political reasons of a
given time may be a contributing cause. Recently I came across an interim order
of the High Court of Punjab & Haryana dealing with the ugly war between the
great warrior teachers of Ch. Devil Lal University, Sirsa. The true extracts of
the Crl. Misc. No. M-7913 of 2015 reads:
“Before deciding the present petition on merits, keeping in view the
peculiar facts and circumstances of the case that since University teachers are
fighting and there are serious allegations, this Court deems it fit and proper
that the matter should be sent to Central Bureau of Investigation and status report
be sought for the following reasons: -
Admittedly criminal complaint and FIR are pending between the parties.
Entire episode has happened in the University campus. University teachers are
expected to have attained higher professional competency to demonstrate ethical
and responsible professional behaviour in performance of their duties. The
teachers are bound by standards of the conduct expected of them of caring,
knowledgeable and reasonable adult, since they are entrusted with the custody,
care and education of the students. It is pertinent to mention that the Law
Department, which is running in the University, admits students after passing
10+2 examination, who are teenagers. The complaints, which students have filed
against the teachers, shown to me by the parties at the time of personal hearing
in my chamber, reveal serious allegations. It is the minimum expectation that a
teacher would act with integrity, honesty, fairness and dignity in all their
dealings wit students, parents, faculty and staff of the department, so that every
one feels that they are physically, socially and culturally secure.
Teacher-teacher, teacher-student, teacher-staff and similarly other
relationships are characterized by respect, confidentiality and absence of
malice and exploitation, in the light of minimum code of conduct expected from
a teacher.”
“Furthermore, it needs to be emphasized that the war is being waged
between the teachers in the cloistered world of University. The repercussion of
the same can be felt down in the present as well as in the future. The
corridors of the University must be free from all this. In view of the tribulations
and continuous fight between the teachers, this Court is compelled to deal with
the tribulation endured by the teachers of Law Department in particular and
other teachers of University in general. When I was hearing the parties, I felt,
I was drowning. I could not believe it, it is really appalling and unethical.
To my mind, the University should not have such type of elements rather teacher
should be good example of good conduct in the society and towards students. Universities
are different from any other institutions. They are the places where students
learn ideas which give shape to their lives and ultimately they turn out to be
nation builders. This Court is concerned with integrity and role of faculty and
their general behaviour in the University towards the students, non-teaching
staff and others, therefore, the present case needs investigation through an
independent agency. This Court is not only concerned with the present criminal complaint
but also concerned with the governance in the University.”
And, the funny and interesting aspect is that the teachers in issue in
the aforesaid HC Order also misbehaved with a female CBI Officer of the DSP
Rank and she had to register fresh FIR against the same officers for
interfering in the job of a public servant. I wonder, what kind of teachers
these are??? Can we expect even the basic norm of morality from such
kind of teachers???
Off course I do remember few schools teachers who
contributed significantly in shaping my life, at least to some extent. ‘Whilst
it is not my intention to analyse all that is wrong with the system, I would
like to concentrate on one basic failure, which, to my mind, is perhaps at the
root of the entire problem: Our failure to develop a scientific and progressive
system of teacher-training. The preoccupation of all governments has been with
developing high-profile institutes of higher education, such as medical
colleges, IITs and IIMs. Somewhere along the line we seem to have forgotten or
ignored the fact that the entire supply chain to these institutions stems from
our schools, and that if that product is flawed or not well prepared, there
will be a huge attrition in the numbers of those who try to negotiate the
challenges of higher education.
There is yet another dimension to
this problem. When teachers are not trained to be genuine educators but
perceive their job as merely guiding, however desultorily, their wards through
the labyrinth of examinations, they cannot be expected to instil any values
remotely connected to good citizenship in their students. They lack the skills,
and even when they have them, the examination-heavy system ensures that they do
not have the time. Our MPs behave badly largely because they have been taught
no better.
It
must be our effort to ensure that every school, right from the ones in the
village to the high-end ones in the city, is manned by well-trained teachers.
Each state must create and sustain a chain of teacher-training institutions
manned by the finest faculty and steeped in research. For government schools,
it might be worth considering a teaching cadre, driven not by ideology, but by skills
and a passion to reach out to the young.’
I can only repeated my favourite lines for teachers who
have nothing to do with teaching, which are:
COMPLETE HC ORDER:
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND
HARYANA
AT CHANDIGARH
Crl. Misc. No. M-7913 of 2015
Dr. Mukesh Garg and another .........Petitioners
(Department
of Law, Ch. Devi Lal University, Sirsa)
//Versus//
Dr.
Rajesh Malik .........Respondent
(Department
of Law, Ch. Devi Lal University, Sirsa)
ORDER
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