I am a teacher. But I wasn't always one.
Anyways, now I work with Teach for India. I teach class 2 students at a government school in Delhi. Before my teaching job I used to think why most of
government school teachers are not serious about their job. On this hallowed
day for called ‘Teacher’s Day’, I would like to share a few experiences that I
have had during my teaching stint. As a result of these experiences my
perspective towards government school teachers has not only changed but I can
empathize with them more than before.
In this post I will
talk about INCIDENTS that happened and the related questions that have popped
up in my mind.
INCIDENT 1 - One day I asked a 5th grade student what
she liked and disliked about studies. I was in for a shock when I realized that
the girl was not even familiarized with English alphabets or numbers till 100,
leave alone her likes and dislikes. I asked a fellow teacher what could be the
reason for this appalling situation. She pointed to the government policy that “No student can be
held back until the completion of elementary education.”
I DOUBT – I confirmed that this is the provision under RTE
Act and the logic given is if a student does not perform well it is not the
student who fails but it is the school system which fails. What a wonderful
thought! But then I thought that why after elementary
education this logic does not work? (May be the students are grown up now and
they should be held accountable for their learning). For 8 years no one can
hold back a child even if he/she does not have grade 1 level knowledge. In the
9th year if the same child cannot learn all things
of past 9 years he/she is supposed to held back or leave school. And then you
call it a drop out while I call it a strategic push out. Now if I go back and
ask if a student never fails till elementary and it is the school system which
fails then what are the consequences for a school to fail? Or a school which
fails on more than 50% of its students? Certainly none. Because even after 66
years of independence our education system does not focus on output (learning
of students) but input (number of students in a school). I believe this policy
is in place to
- Get more votes by fooling
uneducated parents of first generation learners that their children are
getting good education.
- Show these
numbers in school to organizations like WHO, UNICEF and beg for more
funds.
INCIDENT 2 – In my 2 months tenure I found that a few students listed in the
class register never came to school. When I checked with the school Principal
why we haven’t informed the parents or checked if they wished to continue their
child’s education the Principal pointed to another surprising policy “Any child who comes to school for a minimum of 3 days in an
academic year cannot be asked to leave the school.”
I ASK – This rule is
leading parents to get registered in a Govt. school, get benefits like free
books, free uniforms and free stationery. As strength per section of a class is
limited to maximum 40 students this is affecting a lot to those who want to
come every day and learn. I ask why this kind of rule is there? I again
believe this policy is in place for getting votes and to play the number games.
INCIDENT 3- On a lazy afternoon I asked my school principal you are in the
education sector for the past 30 years, what are the things that have changed
in the three decades? She replies “All these free
books and stuff was there 30 years ago also, our education system is
deteriorating at a faster pace, there is no motivation for teachers to teach,
not a great reward system in place, earlier when there was not much check on
corporal punishment some teachers used to pull result with stick now even that
is not there.”
I THINK – I confirmed the
deterioration part of our conversation and yes according to ASER report by
Pratham (An Education sector NGO), number of students in school has
definitely increased but learning levels have gone down drastically especially
in past decade. Strict measures have been implemented to abolish corporal
punishment but do we have a similar stringent training system in place for the
teachers to get results from students without inflicting any punishment. The
recognition and motivation system for teachers is another interesting story.
Yes, teaching is a noble profession and teachers should work selflessly but I
believe like any other profession teachers too deserve an appreciation,
recognition and celebration for the efforts they put in. There are
approximately 70 lakhs school teachers in India, how can any rational mind
imagine all of them or say even half of them to work without anyone
appreciating or recognizing their efforts. Not possible. The Principal told me
that when every year nominations goes for best teacher in a zone, generally
concerned authorities do not even come to check classes of nominated teachers.
They simply give awards to someone they know or someone who offer them
something in return. Like every sector nepotism and corruption is a significant factor here also.
INCIDENT 4 – School principal was shouting on janitor that why does not he come
on time and then it waste our teaching time when he cleans late. It is
happening from many years. One day I asked Principal “why don’t you complain about
him and get him suspended”. She replied “In the nearby
school once a principal suspended one of his teachers and 3 days later some
goons beat the principal after school.”
I QUESTION – Why are people so scared to take bold steps in the Government
sector, be it education or health or any other? I know some people will argue
that the Principal should be daring enough and not scared because of one incident but these baseless motivational lectures do not work in day-to-day
life. When you know if you sack someone you can be harmed and no one will be
held accountable for that then why would you do that? When there is no law and order
then why would you risk your safety and your family’s security?
INCIDENT 5 – We got a printer/scanner donated by a TFI
fellow. As I had to scan some documents I asked Principal "May I connect it to
school computer?" To my surprise all USB ports in the computer are disabled and
except Gmail nothing is accessible on the system.
I WONDER – Gmail is accessible to send daily attendance of students. This
makes me wonder whether it is a computer or a high speed letter box. Why is
internet not accessible? Why ports are disabled? Does the government not trust
their experienced Principals? Can’t we train them to use this computer for
better? But then it needs a real commitment to actually make school systems
efficient.
INCIDENT 6 - I called up one of my students’ father for the 3rd time in a month to discuss how he could help me on improving his
daughter’s studies. All he had to say was , “Sirji aap itni tension kyu le rhe ho bas ise school aane do baki
paise, kitabein or 1 time ka khanna toh sarkar de hee rahi hai (Sir, why are
you bothered so much just let her come to school rest government is giving
money, books and 1 time food).”
I SCREAM – Are you listening political masters? Yes, this
is working.
There are many other things
like no media allowed in school, school building construction going on from
past 3 years, a waterlogged playground. I can go on and on. I agree that we should not generalize things based on one case and there
are better government run schools and at same time there are lakhs of poorly
managed schools too. But the point is, the general sentiment today
that teachers do not work intentionally in government schools is over exaggerated,
mostly it is the government made situations and motivations which force them to
work in a certain way. Yes the intention is lacking but less on teacher’s part
and more somewhere else, may be some people do not want to educate masses. May
be for them education only means to recognize an election symbol and push the
button.
I APPEAL- Make your teachers accountable but first
empower them.
Happy Teacher’s Day.
