In India the tradition of celebrating Teachers Day began in 1962, to celebrate the work of scholars, philosophers, teachers, and politicians. Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was a popular teacher who was extremely friendly with the students. Radhakrishnan believed that “teachers should be the best minds in the country”. Since 1962, his birthday has been celebrated in India as Teachers Day on 5th September every year. We shall wish and provide warm greetings to the community of teachers across the country on the eve of “Teachers Day” with great pleasure; we shall extend our heartfelt greetings and felicitations to teachers throughout the country who put their endless efforts in nurturing the minds of students who will lead our country to glory in the days to come. Teaching is a noble profession it is the teacher who shapes the destiny of a country in the classroom by changing the minds of students. Indian Education Commission (1964-66) rightly remarked “The destiny of India is being shaped in her classroom”. While the secondary education Commission (1952-53) also mentioned “Every teacher and educationist knows that even the best curriculum and the most perfect syllabus remains dead unless the proper teaching strategy and right kind of teachers are not used. The teachers are the destiny makers of youth and architects of society. They act as social engineers and custodians of the future. The teacher acts as an architect for the nation. Teachers not only are equipped with knowledge and skills to instruct and inform but they also have the vision and insight to inspire and transform. Recent research has found a correlation between teacher enthusiasm and students’ intrinsic motivation to learn. Students are likely to build stronger relations with teachers who are friendly and supportive and are showing more interest in courses taught by these teachers. Teachers that spend more time interacting and working directly with students are perceived as supportive and effective teachers. The Education Commission (1964-66) has emphatically pointed out “The quality and competence and character of teachers to be the most significant factor influencing the quality of education and its contribution to national development.” A nation is built by its citizens, citizens are molded by teachers, and teachers are made by teacher-educators. It is rightly said that the quality of a nation depends on the standard of its citizens. The quality of its citizens depends upon the standard of their education and therefore the quality of their education depends upon the quality of their teachers. Teachers mold our personality and character and lead us towards our final goals by showing us the right career path. We should never forget that knowledge cannot be acquired if it is not sought and received with the help of teachers. Teachers are the second parents to every child. They play a very significant role in the overall growth of the children. They not only teach us book lessons but they also teach us real-life lessons as well. They look after us and seed knowledge and values in us. Teaching is that type of profession which teaches all other professions. A teacher is that kind of personality that presents the past, reveals the present, and creates the future. A teacher is just compared with a candle that consumes itself to light the way for others. Someone has rightly said “The best teachers are those who show you where to look but do not tell you where to see” In the Islam religion Hazrat Ali (as.) reveals that people should greet each other but they should always greet their teachers.
We celebrate 5th September in the honor of our teachers for rendering noble services. Teaching is the mother of all other professions like doctors, engineers, architects, dancers, artists, accountants, technicians, and all kinds of other professionals; no profession is possible without the teaching profession. A teacher is a maker of man. He is the foundation of all education. We must appreciate our teachers for guiding us in the right direction and for making us knowledgeable and morally upright people. The Knowledge received without a teacher’s guidance can be compared to a blind man walking without his stick. Through this example, teachers need to understand they have a high level of responsibilities and duties towards society. For the development of a country, there is need to have great attention towards education and learning as well as good moral. Without having good teachers, both knowledge and morals would suffer. The teachers not only make the child literate so that he/she can earn enough to have a moral lifestyle. They also provide us words of wisdom that shape the personality of the child. Many children are influenced by their teachers more than their parents. Alexander the Great once said “I owe my birth to my father, but life to my teacher. Also our former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam always proudly gave all credit to his teachers for his outstanding achievements either being a Scientist or the President of India. A teacher is trying his/her best to make the child wiser than yesterday. To make these things happen as a nation builder, an ideal teacher should constantly seek knowledge, be of good character, have high motivation, and be creative, innovative, and effective in the teaching strategies. Thus we need to recognize their noble service every day. We should respect their service as well as their hard work, dedication, sacrifices, and nobility. All of us were students yesteryear. Today our children are studying under them. Thus we must greet them and respect them forever for carving us to have a prosperous life.
Teachers have great importance in society. The word teacher seems to be very light in speaking but actually, it carries a sea of meaning. A teacher is an ordinary person; nevertheless, he might be called the nation builder. Neither Doctor, Engineer, scientist, neither Lawyer nor Politician can build a nation, yet the teacher does? How a teacher does it? In this sense, he educates the children of a country, imparts a sense of learning among them, and transcends them to the highest levels. A teacher not only molds the intelligentsia of the society educationally but morally, ethically, socially as well. A teacher acts as a beacon of light for children and carries them to their respective splendid futures. In the words of a scholar, “God brings us on the earth but it is the teacher who takes us to the sky”. It is he who makes a real man. In modern times, we say that the richness of a country can be well assessed by its efficient teachers. The greater the number of effective teachers, the brighter will be the future of the nation. A teacher is the builder of a nation, the statement can be cleared thus, “the mistakes of Doctor are buried in graves; the mistakes of a Lawyer lies in implied files; the mistakes of an engineer are cemented with bricks, but mistakes of a teacher are reflected by the future of a nation.” All the sacred religions elevate the status of a teacher. If we talk about the role of teacher, simply standing before students and passing the information which is collected from various sources is not merely the role of a teacher. Rather, we can say teacher plays many roles in the academic career of a student as Planner, Leader, Manager, Advisor, Evaluator, Facilitator, Personal Engineer, Supervisor, Coordinator, Motivator, Mentor, problem-solver and act as a role model and Improviser and more importantly as nation builder for the country. However, it is necessary a teacher should know himself/herself accurately and should be aware of his/her inner potentials and abilities and develop new skills and powers that are essential to be an effective and competent teacher in the present environment. So a teacher has to introspect him/herself regarding his/her attitudes, behavior, duties, and responsibilities towards the institution, staff, students, family, society, and the country as a whole. Robert Green Ingersoll has said, “A good schoolmaster is worth than a thousand priests”. Unfortunately at present teachers feel unsafe and insecure due to many reasons. One of the reasons is that teachers are not getting as much honor as our past teachers got. It may be possible due to the commercialization of the education industry or the impact of privatization of education from the bottom to higher levels but commercialization of education is not a good sign for the progress and prosperity of a nation in the long run. At present bureaucrats and leaders try to assess the value of teachers in terms of money, power, and position as they think teaching is a simple job that can be done by everybody. Some teachers think teaching is their profession, not life, an educational institution as their recreation centre, not the temple of making noble souls. Once Kalidas said the famous poet of India, “If the teachers’ main interest is just earning bread, then he is not better than a shopkeeper selling knowledge”. Lastly, I would like to pay a little tribute to all the teachers of our country and a message for the students. “Teachers have the talents, so divine. He is simple, he is fine. He never cares for his life. He is happy if others shine.” “A message for the students is that, if they want to do something for the country then they need to decorate themselves with modern and standard education. So the student community should work hard and try to go ahead in getting an education” In the end, if the students are the future of the nation, the teachers are the builders of a nation. May God bless all the teachers of our country as they are making tremendous efforts in nurturing the minds of our students!
(The author an Assistant Professor, Gulzar Group of Institutions, Ludhiana is dedicating this Article to all his teachers. Views are his own)
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