Kochi: September 5, Teacher’s Day, marks the birth anniversary of one of the greatest teachers of the country, former President, Dr S Radhakrishnan, who was instrumental in laying the foundations of its education system.
Over the years the role of teachers has changed and today they are no longer considered custodians of all knowledge as students have access to the Internet that provides them with all sorts of information whether reliable or not.
“Today there are diverse sources of information. Earlier teachers were more respected in society ,” acknowledges Dr N Unnikrishnan Nair, former Vice-Chancellor of Cusat. In the circumstances, making the teaching profession relevant is clearly a challenge today.
Ask Ms Umadevi K, a Sanskrit teacher with the Bhavan’s Vidya Mandir, Giringar, Kochi, who is in Delhi to receive the best CBSE teacher award from the President on Teacher’s Day , how she does it and she says she combines technology with tradition to make her subject interesting to students. “Technology can help you dig deep into the treasures of Sankrit and unearth them. I became a teacher in 1980 and since then I have been using all kinds of aids to reach out to students. I got them involved in art and literary events, epics, stories, rhymes and quizzes in Sanskrit. I have been fortunate to be at Bhavan’s where the Assembly is held in Sanskrit one day in a week. Also, the school magazine has a section in Sanskrit. The annual day too gives due importance to the language,” she explains.
Former diplomat and Kerala State Higher Education Council Vice-Chairman, T P Sreenivasan, says teaching in classrooms is today often supplemented with open sources of education such as Massive Open Online Courses. “The teachers have to turn into mentors guiding the students through the source material and devise ways to evaluate their knowledge. Also school teachers should promote only those who are fit for higher education. Others should be diverted to institutions such as community colleges and polytechnics where they can acquire necessary skills,” he says, adding that its important to strengthen the training programme for teachers as well.
Taking a more criticial view of things, noted educationist Prof Hridayakumari says while there are still many teachers inspiring their students, the overall picture in schools, colleges and universities is dismal. “ Otherwise how can standards decline so much, exams become so farcical, textbooks so prosaic and even careless, and corruption so rampant in everything concerning education? It’s time to overhaul the entire system,” he stresses.
