The tragedy with govt school teachers stems from one thing and that’s the inability of people (whether common people or people at helm of affairs) to understand the fair amount of difference or distinction between two things, that’s a school and a teacher. People fail to realise that when we talk of a school, that never means just about the teacher/s of that school. And particularly in the present scenario when things have changed drastically and when parents mainly have grown ambitious about the future of their children and when their expectations and demands (parent’s expectations/demands ) from schools have also grown exceptionally high to see that their wards do not lack in any respect and wish them to earn a good name both for themselves and for the whole family . In this backdrop, I tell it with all responsibility that drawing parallels or drawing such an equation that tantamount to considering a school equivalent to its teacher/s only or vice versa is fundamentally a wrong equation to draw, as a school in itself, as I belive, is an institution. And by institution, we mean a system having so many components or parts running in coordination with each other. And any fault in one part or component, will tell upon the performance of the whole system or the unit under consideration. So running this institution successfully, by no means can be believed to be just a job of few classroom teacher/s who are more or less meant to perform inside the four walls of the classrooms. And imagining just a couple of teachers (at the most three teachers in case of govt primary schools) running this institution and expecting them to do wonders does not sound less than a joke. And moreover, running a school successfully is not even a classroom exercise too. The point I am trying to highlight here is that teacher as part of this whole system has a limited, if not less, scope to change the whole scenario. There are different forces and factors that fall out of his scope to be corrected or modified. There are a whole lot of things in this system that are expected to work in synergy to see that everything goes as per the set goals and objectives of the particular school. However, bigger a system, bigger are its internal frictional forces that hamper its progress and achievement. Moreover this myth (now I prefer to call it a myth) that a school can succeed or fail only because of teachers needs to be busted today as it has proportionately attained much weight now, owing to the frequent doses of insult, intimidation and the humiliation that teachers are often subjected to as a result of this myth as this myth has almost now seeped into the mindsets of common people and seems to have paralyzed the logic and reason of even a good number of saner people of the society too. And given the magnitude of its impact, the main focus of this discourse will be to unfold this myth and bring the truth to fore. Moreover the need to do so is equally emphasized for seeing how at present a section of opinion makers (having a good fan following and whose voice is heard in public) are presenting teachers as the sole villains, the root cause of all evils in the govt education system particularly the govt schools. In this context, it is not less than a mischief which some people who are always hellbent to present govt school teachers in a poor light as being the spoilers, the termites and what not as the vocabulary such people use against such unfortunate lot teachers suggests. As a result of this false narrative and the follow up actions and orders that come from the higher-ups, the life of many serious and dedicated teachers particularly, working in the department is turned not less than a hell, as it has become a routine now that even a casual passer-by gives can give a bashing to teachers at a time and place of his choosing. This all is obviously happening as a result of this illogical and unfair narrative that has been for years now built against teachers, despite the them putting their best efforts and energy to see that there’s a distinct improvement in the overall quality deliverance in their respective schools with whatever limited resources they have at hand. However what I am given to understand as a teacher is; as I mentioned that school is an institution and there are different kinds of people working at different levels in a complete synergy that actually make this school a success e.g there are thinkers, planners, proper executors or workers (in terms of quality and quantity both) needed to work in coordination to run a school successfully and to meet the needs and demands of changing times. And based on the premise as considering a school as a complete institution with many people positioned at different levels of the hierarchy ladder, how far is it then fair, rational and justified to think and squarely blame just one part (the teachers) of this whole institution for any weaknesses that are there and that are potentially earning a bad name for this institution as a whole, as I explained that teacher is merely a part of a whole, not the whole in itself, though I don’t deny that he is an important part. To substantiate my argument, there are innumerable instances where a same teacher who once happened to be a great performer, rather happened to be the backbone of a shining private school of a locality. But the same teacher almost failed or say couldn’t make much difference in a govt school, once he got posted in, after getting appointed as a govt teacher. In fact there are innumerable such examples present where a yesterday’s private school teacher is today’s govt school teacher. And now here again a pertinent question regarding such a typical case arises and that’s ; Does such a case anyway mean or suggest that a yesterday’s honest, dedicated and responsible person (the same private school teacher) got transformed and turned into a dishonest, apathetic and irresponsible person soon after becoming a teacher of a govt school. Is there any logic that supports such a thing as possible? The straight answer is ”NO” as that’s never a possibility, not in the wildest dreams of a person. And so for as I know, an honest person doesn’t become or learn honesty overnight, neither does same apply for a dishonest person. Nurturing ideals of honesty is a long process of years and decades that a man goes before finally he commits to be an honest person towards his work . And to me, this is no less than a process that a fragile raw clay goes through in a hot brick killin before turning into a stony hard red colour brick. And the seed for this honesty and dedication is sown in the childhood while the child is brought up . And certainly there’s a role of parents/grand parents and other people etc in the family. In this context I am sure all the parents and guardians of every govt teacher must not have been dishonest in any probability and would not have produced just dishonest children who at present happen to be govt teachers now and who have, in fact become an eyesore for everyone now(as it looks so). Moreover the most important thing to ponder over here and that obviously is the basic question is; that why the same person happens to be successful in one system and proves almost a failure in another. Pertinently the person is same, his value building is same, the abilities are same,not to talk about his qualifications. Besides this, one more straight question that pertains to those who often criticize and are skeptical of govt teachers, with regards to their honesty and dedication as a result of drawing a wrong comparisons between the govt schools and the reputed corporate private schools(I would call them corporate schools). And the question is; Does anyone ever care to give credit to the teachers of such private schools or even talk about them as the sole vanguards of these school while talking about its achievements, which the school is actually known for?
While in a stark contrast, govt teachers are really considered so but in negative sense, the sole spoilers, the sole villains? The hard reality is that most of the teachers of such schools are usually unknown to people especially talking about parents. They have no visibility at all, when it comes to name and fame of the school. And it is often either the name of the school or the name of its owner that’s in limelight or that’s talked about in public. Having said so about the private school teachers, I definitely don’t intent to demean them or their contribution in shaping the lives of children. In fact I give them their due share of respect and credit that they deserve as they too are contributing greatly in shaping the future of students and are particularly the part of this society, besides most of them being a qualified and ambitious lot, though willing, rather eager to serve in the govt sector, if given a chance. So again, the point that’s coming out here is that besides classroom teachers, it is the people at the helm of affairs of such schools that also play a great role in making these schools a success. To elaborate it a bit more, it is they, the administrators who make planning to see their school really shines and keeps pace with changing times. It is they who devise new strategies to see that things are implemented on ground and to see that the school outgrows and outshines other schools in the market in a cut throat competition, ranging from choosing the curriculum or more specifically the quality books ,to quality infrastructure and particularly procuring sufficient man power to see that all the planning of the institution is executed and the school works properly and in tune to the set goals and standards that the school promises and pledges to deliver. In case of such schools, having a vibrant and a long chain of administrators that’s in place, that’s particularly augmented by more than sufficient manpower at disposal, the services are as a result so meticulously delivered that it includes even taking care of the small innocent kids of KG classes even while they are sitting on a toilet seat, by engaging sufficient care taking staff for the purpose, not to talk of other academic related activities. This doesn’t stop here. let me tell those who resort to this unfair comparison of govt schools and private schools that I am sure that no one would deny the fact about the private schools, that the first thing the owners or the administrators of these schools (that are talked so much of) prioritise is, choosing a prime location for their schools, having ample space for diffrent activities, over and above the sufficient and quality classrooms for teaching learning, as the major investment that’s done by them is usually on the school building to attract the hearts and minds of ambitious parents who are keen to see that their ward/child is admitted in a school having a building in place that particularly matches their social and financial status. Yes, nowadays social/financial status of parents has a great bearing on their decision to chose a school for their kid. But that’s not the concern here. Let’s keep that for some another day for discussion. And coming back to the point, the fact is that in such privately owned schools, usually teachers are greatly rendered as non entities, as changing these unknown teachers in these schools is a routine exercise. The fact is that people, even the parents, seldom come to know that the teacher of their ward has been replaced by some new unknown face. This is how the role of private school teachers is confined to being in and teaching in the classrooms, while all the rest domains particularly pertaining to administrative matters or regarding providing quality services that indeed include, as I said, the quality books and other infrastructure like quality classrooms and ample manpower for upkeep of school, besides many more things that distinguish such otherwise corporate private schools from govt schools. The fact is that there are innumerable things/responsibilities that are kept out of the scope of the teachers and are exclusively a domain of the administrators/owners, yet such private schools are seen as success. By saying so, as I said I never intend to undermine the role of teachers in schools. But the point that I am trying to bring out here is that running a school successfully has lot to do with diffrent people at different hierarchical levels playing their role in coordination and in an efficient way. And no way is it just because or by dint of a teacher or teachers that the school can touch the heights of success as, he is just a part and has a very little scope to attune the whole system as per his/her wish. I hope everybody agrees here that in case of a successful private school, there’s a huge chain of administrators who take care that each and everything goes well. Usually there is a private owner on top of the ladder who has an investment in the school and thus has great stakes in it. Then to see that the school is properly taken care of in every respect, there’s always a administrator working below the owner and in this hierarchy, below the level of administrator, there’s always a professional man called the principal who particularly takes care of the academics of the schools. It doesn’t stop here, as in most of the cases we even see a vice principal working under the principal to see that if at all anything is skipped or overlooked or anything needs immediate care, the vice principal takes care of that too, thereby leaving no scope for any mismanagement. And the most important thing about all this is that all these officials are always localized and usually available in the premises of the school to have an eagle’s eye on everything that’s required in the school. And issues not falling under scope of one official are systematically escalated to higher levels for redressal. It is this vibrant administration of these private schools, not certainly the teachers who make things happen and happen immediately for making the school not suffer for want of anything. Now coming to the govt schools, although administration here too happens to comprise of a long chain of able and dedicated officers, but as we know, usually all such administrators or officers are distantly located from the schools (I am excluding the headmaster of school here, for he has almost no say in policy matters and happens to be just an official who only implements things that come from the above). This distance leaves a scope of communication gaps between the two (though things have changed to some extent by dint of information technology) However sometimes the lower rung administrators themselves seem helpless in many matters as the system is configured in such a way that it doesn’t give them ‘ enough latitude or flexibility to address some particular issues of a particular school raised by its teachers at school levels. Besides it is the centralized administrative setup or authority that’s working at a massive level countrywide, that sometimes makes even the able officers at the helm of affairs just ineffective, as applying a same measuring rod to each and every school for their each and every problem can’t be expected to bring good results as one single solution can’t prove a panacea for all school problems and that too when it is a countrywide phenomenon. However after proper feedback from many dedicated and sincere officers on ground, many things indeed are got modified and made flexible to suit the local needs. And when it comes to school operations and if I talk of govt primary schools, most of the administrative works which includes all those frequent correspondences with the schools are required to submit to higher offices, then it also includes the clerical jobs in school, school upkeep (which includes even keeping the toilets clean) and many other non teaching works, besides the routine academics responsibilities and all the off school campus duties that a teacher is made to perform are all carried away by just two or three teacher posted in the school. I say it with all seriousness that there has always been a dearth of manpower needed to take care of all the classes including newly introduced KG classes, if we talk of the present day demands and expectations of parents from the schools. And this dearth of staff in past eventually lead to a compromise in quality standards in these primary schools that in fact cascaded up to higher levels like middle and high schools and the result of all these schools is in front of our eyes.
(The author is a Govt School teacher. Views are his own)
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