Education and Teachers: Some Relevant Discussions

By Himangshu Ranjan Bhuyan 

Humans are the only thinking creatures on this earth. This is the quality that makes humans the best of creatures. The field that is denoted by the thinking or thinking power is the intellectual field. The field that plays a decisive role in the development of the intellectual field is the educational field. Without education, our lives are meaningless. The word ‘education’ is the deepest and greatest word. Education paves the way for right thinking and righteous deeds in human life. 

Only proper education can teach us how to succeed in life and how to live our lives. Education is associated with the progress of human life. It is through education that people gain immense joy, enthusiasm, enterprise, enthusiasm and inspiration. 

Swami Vivekananda said, “We need education that shapes character, increases mental strength, increases intelligence and enables people to stand on their own feet.” The future of a nation or a country depends on the education system. With the development of human civilization, the goals, policies and roles of education have taken various forms. The main goal of education is to build people. In fact, education is a sign of the fulfillment of human life. However, the clear aspect nowadays is that formal education is of the utmost importance in the development of civilization. 

Whether it is the Gurukul education system of old or today’s sophisticated satellite classroom system – it is undeniable that in all educational systems of all civilizations, evaluation of the educational situation is essential for the development of beings and for enriching the necessary awareness.

The prosperity and progress of a country depends on quality education. In fact, no matter how rich a country is, if education is poor, it can never progress. It is true that no matter what schemes or plans are taken by the State Education Commissions or the Government for the improvement of the education system, the society, students and teachers play a major role in the actual implementation of these. 

Teachers play a major role in improving the quality of education with the progress of society, adapting it to the dynamic society and achieving all-round development of students to become healthy, strong and good citizens. Teachers are an ever-burning slum whose light illuminates a society, a nation. Teachers, the miners of man-building, constantly enlighten future generations with the light of knowledge through immortality. It is said – teachers are born, not made (‘Teacher is born, not made’). 

Teachers are the most prominent and respected persons in society. Teachers are said to be symbols of sacrifice and ideals. Everyone is aware of the teacher-student relationship. Teachers are friends and guides of students. The famous philosopher Aristotle said, “Teachers are more respected than parents, because parents give birth to children, teachers determine the way of life.” 

A student carries the knowledge gained from his teacher gently in his mind for the rest of his life.In our Indian society too, there is a very high perception of teachers in everyone’s mind. Since ancient times, students have regarded their teachers as gods. He lived in the Guru’s ashram and obeyed his orders and advice without any objection. “Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu / Guru Deva Maheshwara / Guru Sakshath Param Brahma Tasmaishri Guruvei Namah.” 

The great philosopher, ideal educationist Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan said – Teachers are an eternal need of society. They keep the candle of civilization burning by passing on intellectual, cultural and technological skills from one generation to another. Teaching is a sacred service for a teacher. Therefore, it is the duty of the teacher to guide the students in the right path with his extensive knowledge. Only if teachers become the best friends, well-wishers, guides, enlighteners and fathers of the students can the students be glorified with knowledge and make themselves successful in their future lives. To be a true and ideal teacher, it is essential to possess certain qualities. 

Competence, intelligence, skill, character, humor, eloquence and enthusiasm are the keys to a successful and ideal true teacher. Teachers must be curious, inquisitive and studious. He must thoroughly master the medium in which he will teach. He must be idealistic, honest, tolerant, virtuous, patient, affectionate, equal-minded, just, ethical, punctual, truthful and sacrificial. ‘Simple Living High Thinking’ – this is the ideal that teachers should practice. 

UNESCO’s 1996 book ‘What Makes a Good Teacher’ describes the qualities of a teacher – a teacher should be patient and kind, flexible and proud, tolerant and open-minded.He should be funny, enthusiastic and enjoy teaching. The teacher should be honest, imaginative, creative, skilled, self-disciplined, helpful, humble and modest.” Many people may not have these qualities before becoming a teacher, but they must be possessed if teaching is a profession. Teaching is not just a profession, it is a symbol of sacrifice and responsibility. In fact, virtuous, wise, truthful, conscientious and skilled teachers can create a suitable nation through school education. Teachers should realize that the first book students start reading is the teacher sitting in front of them. They study the teacher first, and then concentrate on the teaching he does. Teachers are imitated by students at every moment. Therefore, the teacher must stand before the students as a person of ideal personality and clean image. 

Furthermore, it is essential for teachers to be self-sufficient in the exploration of new knowledge in order for the country and nation to move towards continuous progress. The role of the teaching community in enlightening the society with the light of knowledge is certainly immense and any delay in this will have an adverse and negative impact on the society of the future. It is said, ‘A doctor’s wrong treatment kills a patient, but a teacher’s wrong teaching can destroy a nation. Teachers need to be aware of this. A true idealistic teacher is always a welcome, invaluable person in the society or the country and his contribution will always be accepted with respect and honor by the students and the society and his ideals will shine brightly in the society forever.

The Kothari Education Commission report titled ‘Education and National Development’ said – ‘The Destiny Of India Is Now Being Shaped In Her Classroom’ Although the current education system is child-centered, the teacher certainly plays a strong role in developing good habits by controlling some of the instinctive tendencies, reactions and behavior of the students and developing the students into a healthy personality. The basic principle of the contemporary education system is enjoyable and effective education. Special attention has been paid to ensure that the students can learn without any mental and physical suffering. Nowadays, teachers have to study the psychological aspects of children and teach. The Education Commission has taken special steps to ensure that there is no stagnation in the education of students and waste of human resources which can never be effective without the goodwill and cooperation of the teaching community. Teachers must apply new techniques in the classroom to teach students in a practical manner. Each class has students of different levels and tastes. Similarly, there are many students with different behaviors in different societies and environments. 

Therefore, if a teacher takes all these aspects into consideration and applies modern scientific teaching methods with knowledge of child psychology, the teaching will surely be effective.Therefore, it is important to ensure that the students are not limited to the limited knowledge of the textbooks but also to develop their personalities through physical, mental, intellectual and moral character development, honest thoughts and deeds , teachers must always play the role of vigilant guards. 

However, more recently, the rare status of the teaching community has been greatly eroded under the influence of various factors. There are many reasons behind this but lack of professional responsibility, social responsibility and moral responsibility of some teachers (a small number) and extreme indifference towards teaching, involvement of some teachers in various scams and misdeeds. 

There is no doubt that the increase in the number of teachers has greatly diminished the status of the entire teaching community. In short, teaching will be meaningful only if teachers can move forward with a spirit of sacrifice and service by inspiring students to acquire knowledge through positive thinking, action, social responsibility and ideal life. Finally, I would like to conclude with a sentence written by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam in his book ‘India 2020 – A Vision Of the New Millenium’ – “You as a teacher must play a special role in shaping the future generation with all your power.”

• The Writer is CRCC of Nalbari Cluster, Biswanath Education Block, Education Department, Govt. Of Assam

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