Dr. Rizwan Rumi
On Teachers’ Day, classrooms, auditoriums and social media platforms will once again be filled with familiar words: nation-builders, mentors, role models, torchbearers and architects of the future. Teachers will receive bouquets, certificates and messages of appreciation. Speeches will celebrate their contribution to society. But beyond the ceremonies and the annual expressions of gratitude lies a more fundamental question: Are we creating the conditions in which teachers can actually perform the work we celebrate them for? Across Jammu and Kashmir, thousands of teachers begin their working day long before the first bell rings. From the snow-bound schools of Gurez, Tangdhar and Paddar to government institutions spread across the plains of Jammu, teachers work in circumstances that can be very different from those experienced in urban and better-connected schools. For many children, particularly those belonging to economically weaker households, rural communities and first-generation learner families, the government school is not simply a place where lessons are taught. It is often the first doorway to a wider world. The public-school teacher, therefore, occupies a position of enormous social importance. Yet there is a contradiction at the heart of our education system. We expect teachers to produce better learning outcomes, nurture responsible citizens, embrace technology, provide emotional support, complete administrative requirements and participate in government programmes—often simultaneously. We celebrate the teacher as the foundation of education while frequently failing to provide the institutional conditions necessary for that foundation to remain strong. If Teachers’ Day is to mean anything beyond ceremonial recognition, this contradiction deserves to be confronted.
The Public School As The Last Mile Of Education: The Government education system in Jammu and Kashmir has a reach that private education cannot easily replicate. Its schools extend into remote mountain settlements, villages and geographically difficult areas where commercial educational institutions are either unavailable or beyond the economic reach of many families. In these communities, the teacher performs multiple roles. A teacher may be the person who persuades a reluctant child to return to school, guides a student towards higher education, helps a family understand scholarship opportunities, encourages a girl to continue studying, or motivates a child from a modest background to imagine a future beyond the immediate boundaries of the village. This role becomes particularly significant in a region where geography itself can become an educational barrier. Snowfall, difficult roads, long distances, seasonal disruptions and limited digital connectivity can affect the continuity of education. In some remote areas, attending school is itself an achievement. The teacher who works in such an environment cannot be assessed only through conventional indicators. A teacher in a remote school may not have access to the same resources as a teacher in a well-equipped urban institution, yet may be performing a far more demanding educational and social function. This is why educational policy must recognise context. Equality in education does not always mean giving every school exactly the same thing. It means giving greater support where the challenges are greater.
What The Numbers Should Make Us Ask: The more uncomfortable story emerges when we examine participation across different stages of schooling. Available education data indicate a significant decline in Gross Enrolment Ratio as students progress through the schooling cycle—from 113.7 per cent at the primary level to 77.3 per cent at upper-primary, 66.1 per cent at secondary and 44.8 per cent at higher-secondary. These figures need to be interpreted carefully. GER can exceed 100 per cent because it includes students outside the official age group. It should not therefore be confused with a simple measure of attendance or completion. Nevertheless, the decline across successive stages raises an important question: Why do fewer young people remain within the formal education pipeline as they grow older? The answer cannot simply be placed at the door of the teacher. Educational participation is influenced by household income, distance, family responsibilities, employment opportunities, social expectations, academic preparedness and perceptions about the value of continued education. By the time a student reaches secondary or higher-secondary school, these pressures can become considerably more pronounced. The teacher is often the person standing at the final line of defence—trying to persuade a student not to drop out, trying to motivate a struggling learner and trying to convince parents that education remains worth the investment. But teachers cannot solve structural poverty through classroom instruction alone. If we genuinely want to improve retention, education policy must therefore move beyond enrolment numbers and address the economic and social conditions that influence whether students remain in school.
When One Teacher Becomes An Entire Institution: Staff deployment presents another important challenge. Reports of more than 1,300 single-teacher schools serving tens of thousands of students illustrate the complexity of providing equitable education across a geographically diverse Union Territory. The problem with a single-teacher school is not merely that one teacher has a larger workload. The problem is pedagogical. Imagine one teacher responsible for several grades, different learning levels, lesson planning, assessment, attendance, administrative records and other institutional responsibilities. Even the most committed educator has only a finite number of hours in a day. Teaching is not simply the physical presence of an adult inside a classroom. Good teaching requires preparation, assessment, feedback, individual attention, remedial support and interaction with parents. It requires understanding why a student is falling behind and designing an appropriate response. When one teacher is expected to perform all these functions across multiple grades, the system is effectively asking an individual to compensate for a structural deficiency. At the same time, there are instances of uneven teacher deployment in different institutions. This creates a dual problem: some schools struggle with shortages while others may have staffing patterns that do not correspond to actual student requirements. The answer is not merely recruitment. J&K needs a transparent, data-driven rationalisation and deployment mechanism. Student enrolment, subject requirements, school location, accessibility, workload and the special circumstances of remote areas should all be considered. A teacher should not be treated as merely a transferable administrative unit. Deployment decisions have direct consequences for children.
The Changing Nature Of The Teacher’s Job: The classroom of 2026 is not the classroom of two decades ago. The teacher today operates in an environment shaped by smart phones, social media, artificial intelligence, online learning platforms and rapidly changing information. Students can access information instantly. But information is not the same thing as knowledge. The teacher’s role is consequently becoming more important, not less. A student can ask a search engine a question. But a teacher can help that student determine whether the answer is reliable. A student can use artificial intelligence to generate an essay. But a teacher can teach the student how to think critically about what the machine produces. A student can watch a video explaining mathematics or science. But a teacher can recognise the specific misconception preventing that student from understanding the concept. Technology can deliver information. Teachers develop understanding, judgement and character. This is why the conversation about technology in education should never become a conversation about replacing teachers. The real challenge is to equip teachers to use technology intelligently.
The Digital Divide Is Also An Educational Divide : There is considerable emphasis today on smart classrooms, digital learning and technology-enabled education. That emphasis is justified, but technology cannot transform education simply because a smart board is installed on a classroom wall. A functional digital classroom requires electricity, internet connectivity, equipment maintenance, relevant content and teachers who know how to integrate technology into pedagogy. If access to these resources remains concentrated in better-connected institutions, the digital divide can become another educational divide. A child in a remote village should not have a fundamentally different educational opportunity simply because of geography. The objective should therefore be equitable digital access, not technology for its own sake. And investment should not end with procurement. Many public institutions across India have experienced the familiar cycle of equipment being installed, enthusiasm being generated and then systems gradually becoming non-functional because of inadequate maintenance or technical support. J&K should learn from such experiences. A digital classroom without maintenance is simply another locked cupboard.
“Rather than simply praising teachers on Teachers’ Day, Jammu and Kashmir must transform its public education system to empower and honor educators. Restoring dignity to teachers creates a strong foundation that secures better educational opportunities and futures for thousands of children.”
The Burden Nobody Sees: Perhaps the least discussed challenge facing teachers is the gradual expansion of non-academic responsibilities. Teachers are expected to maintain records, complete documentation, participate in surveys, provide data and undertake various administrative assignments. At different times, government teachers may also be called upon for election-related duties and other public programmes. Some of these responsibilities are unavoidable. Teachers are public servants and schools are part of the wider administrative structure. But the cumulative burden deserves serious examination. Every hour spent on paperwork is an hour not spent preparing a lesson. Every afternoon consumed by administrative compliance is time that could have been used to assess students who are falling behind. Every additional responsibility placed on a teacher competes, in some measure, with the core purpose for which the teacher is employed. The solution is not to isolate teachers from society or public administration. The solution is to ensure that teaching remains their primary responsibility. School clusters could be supported with administrative personnel who handle routine documentation, data management and other non-instructional tasks. This would not merely benefit teachers. It would benefit students.
Accountability Must Not Become Humiliation: There is another conversation we need to have: the difference between accountability and excessive bureaucratic control. Teachers must certainly be accountable. Attendance matters. Learning outcomes matter. Professional conduct matters. Classroom performance matters. But accountability becomes counterproductive when it is reduced to paperwork, inspections and compliance for their own sake. A teacher who spends more time preparing records for inspection than preparing lessons is not necessarily becoming a better teacher. Likewise, professional autonomy should not be mistaken for a lack of accountability. The strongest education systems combine clear expectations with professional trust. Teachers should know what is expected of them, receive meaningful feedback and have opportunities to improve. But they should also be trusted as professionals. Instead of creating a culture in which teachers constantly fear administrative scrutiny, the system should build a culture of mentoring, peer learning and professional improvement. The question should shift from “How do we catch a teacher doing something wrong?” to “How do we help teachers become better at what they do?” That is a fundamentally different philosophy of governance.
Teacher Training Needs A Rethink: Teacher training is another area requiring attention. Professional development cannot be reduced to periodic workshops where teachers listen to presentations, complete attendance requirements and return to school with little practical change. The classroom is changing too rapidly for such a model to remain sufficient. Teachers need practical, continuous professional development in areas such as inclusive education, differentiated instruction, classroom assessment, digital pedagogy, artificial intelligence, foundational learning and socio-emotional support. Training should also recognise that a teacher in an urban school may face very different challenges from a teacher in a remote mountain institution. Professional development should therefore become more contextual and school-specific. Teachers should also have opportunities to learn from one another. A successful innovation developed by a teacher in one government school should not remain confined to that classroom. Platforms for peer learning can allow effective practices to travel across districts. There is enormous expertise within the public-school system itself. We need to recognise it.
Parents, Communities Have A Role Too: Educational reform cannot be the responsibility of teachers and the government alone. Parents and communities also have an important role. There is sometimes an unfortunate tendency to judge a government school primarily through comparison with private institutions, without considering the vastly different social and economic contexts in which they operate. Private education may offer certain advantages in some areas, but public schools carry a broader social responsibility. They educate children regardless of their economic circumstances. Communities must therefore become partners rather than merely critics. School Management Committees and local communities can contribute meaningfully by monitoring facilities, encouraging attendance, supporting vulnerable students and strengthening the relationship between schools and families. A school becomes stronger when the community sees it not as a government building but as its own institution.
What Should Be Done? If we are serious about restoring dignity to public education, reform should proceed on several fronts. First, protect instructional time. Routine administrative work should be shifted, wherever possible, to dedicated support personnel at the cluster or institutional level. Second, rationalise staffing transparently. Deployment should be based on actual educational need rather than administrative convenience. Single-teacher schools should receive priority attention. Third, give special support to remote schools. Teachers serving difficult and geographically isolated areas require appropriate institutional support, infrastructure and professional incentives. Fourth, modernise infrastructure. Libraries, laboratories, internet connectivity, sanitation, electricity, digital equipment and safe classrooms are not luxuries. They are basic components of contemporary education. Fifth, make teacher training continuous. Professional development should be practical, specialised and linked to classroom realities. Sixth, strengthen student counselling and career guidance. Retaining students in secondary and higher-secondary education requires more than urging them to attend school. Young people need to see pathways from education to meaningful futures. Seventh, use data intelligently. Education data should help administrators identify shortages, dropout risks, learning gaps and infrastructure deficiencies. Data should support teachers—not merely create more paperwork for them. Eighth, give teachers a meaningful voice in policymaking. Those who spend their days inside classrooms understand problems that may not be visible from an administrative office.
Dignity Is More Than Recognition: There is a tendency to measure teachers through examination results, attendance figures, inspection reports and compliance indicators. These measurements have their place. But education is not an assembly line. A teacher’s most important contribution may not appear in a report for years. It may be the student who becomes the first graduate in a family. It may be the girl who continues her education despite economic or social pressures. It may be the child from a remote village who discovers an ambition that nobody in the family had previously imagined. It may be a struggling student who simply needed one adult to believe in him. These outcomes are difficult to quantify. Yet they are precisely what make teaching one of society’s most consequential professions. For Jammu and Kashmir, the stakes are particularly high. Education is not simply about examinations and employment. It is about expanding choices, reducing inequality, strengthening social mobility and enabling young people to participate meaningfully in the region’s future. A strong public education system can become one of the most powerful instruments of social transformation. But it cannot be built by placing ever-increasing expectations on teachers while leaving structural problems unresolved.
The Real Meaning Of Teachers’ Day: Perhaps, then, the most meaningful Teachers’ Day tribute would not be another speech. It would be a policy decision that protects a teacher’s classroom time. It would be a staffing system that ensures no child is left dependent on an overburdened single teacher. It would be a school building where technology works, laboratories function and books are available. It would be professional development that respects teachers’ intelligence rather than treating them as passive recipients of instructions. It would be an administrative culture that values trust alongside accountability. And it would be a society that understands that the dignity of teachers is inseparable from the dignity of the education system itself. Teaching in Jammu and Kashmir is far more than a government job. For many educators, particularly those serving in difficult and remote areas, it is a daily commitment to children, communities and the future. We should celebrate that commitment. But celebration alone is not enough. Dignity means adequate staffing. Dignity means functional classrooms. Dignity means professional autonomy. Dignity means continuous learning. Dignity means institutional support. Above all, dignity means being allowed to teach. Jammu and Kashmir does not merely need more teachers. It needs a public education system that enables its teachers to become the best educators they can be. On Teachers’ Day, therefore, perhaps the most appropriate tribute is not to tell teachers how important they are. It is to build a system that treats them as important. Because when we restore dignity to the public-school teacher, we do more than honour a profession. We restore a pathway to opportunity for thousands of children whose futures depend on the strength of the classroom.
(The author is a research scholar. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”)
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