World Teacher’s Day

Image from here

October 5^th is world teacher’s day. It’s celebrated since 1994 to recognize the essential role of teachers in providing quality education at all levels. It is also an opportunity to promote international standards for the teaching profession. The theme for this year is Teachers for gender equality.

I wrote a post long time back for teacher’s day where I said that the profession of teaching should be held at a higher esteem than it is currently held at. My feelings haven’t changed since then. I personally consider teaching to be a very important vocation, because next to parents, teachers are the people who mould a child during its informative years.

Then again respect is something earned. We have heard of instances where the trust placed on teachers has been abused by them. It doesn’t necessarily have to be something criminal, but handling something as simple as a misbehaving child. Some teachers are not able to handle these situations and might end up doing something that has an adverse effect on the child. They do it most of the time because they do not have the proper training on the psychological aspects of education and child behaviour. Some on the hand do it because they just don’t care, and those are the worst kind.

Sadly, modern society has little respect for knowledge and intelligence. The center of gravity for respect has shifted from knowledge to money, power and influence. Knowledge maybe power, but money is the ultimate power.

A lot of people blame teachers for going into the tuition “business. However with the situation as it is today, is it wrong? Teachers are people too and they also need to survive. They are not paid high salaries, but the cost of living is high. So is it wrong for them to supplement their income to make ends meet? I don’t think so. People say that teachers don’t do their jobs properly during the school time so that they can get children into their tuition classes. I say if you want to change that, increase their salaries so that they don’t have to find other means to cover the balance of the cost of living. I believe that a true teacher would always prefer to give their very best during school time, without getting into the tuition “business”.

Another thing we must do is give all teachers some kind of training in child psychology. I’m not familiar with the teacher training system already in place here and whether they already do it or not. If it is already happening then it is good.

My message to all teachers out there is that you are doing important work. It may not always feel like that, but it matters for the future generations.

Furthermore, a big thank you to all who have taught me. Respect!