LITERATURE-LIGHT AND DELIGHT
59. WHO ARE OUR TEACHERS NOW?
When I finished college, I wanted to be a lecturer. I thought it would keep me in touch with the subjects I liked, would keep me in touch with young minds and brilliant colleagues, and had ambitions of doing research. I knew it didn't pay much, but I had really liked my teachers and professors who seemed to me to exemplify the living spirit of 'simple living and high thinking' even if the simplicity was forced on them by the poor pay, and the high thinking was their way of dealing with the odds. But most of them were genuinely interested in the subjects they taught, had taken up the profession for the love of it ( or had fallen in love later, in the typical manner of Indian marriage). I had not come across a single teacher who complained of his rather low pay and poor circumstances. They were most of them conscious of their role in shaping young minds and lives, and took this responsibility with great pride and seriousness. Naturally, they commanded genuine respect. They were my idols.
But it was not easy getting the job. I found caste considerations to be decisive- not only as between Brahmins and others, but among Brahmins too! Then came the anti-Hindi agitation in Tamil Nad in 1965 which totally changed the academic culture. Academic institutions were pervaded by the divisive spirit, the anti-Brahmin feeling became more pronounced and open.The very idea of discipline was taken as a concession to and sign of Brahminism and defied. The number of Brahmin teachers in schools and colleges rapidly declined.
But the remuneration structure in govt schools and colleges steadily improved. Today it is fabulous. But it has not attracted a better quality of teachers. It may be surprising, but is true.
Over the last 2/3 decades, emphasis has shifted from humanities, languages and arts subjects to the science subjects, and commerce. The craze is for medical, engineering, and dental courses- not even for pure science and maths at the degree level. The cut-off marks for admission are fixed very high, and to enable the students to score, the exam style has also been changed, with evaluation becoming liberal.So, those getting high marks get into the medical, engineering and dental colleges. The next preference is commerce. Who then elect to become teachers?
I have found that almost no one becomes a teacher by first choice! They enter the profession because they cannot go elsewhere. The more enterprising or ambitious would leave it at the first opportunity. But most remain because it is a good earning proposition-handsome salary, not much of a burden or responsibility. Taught or not, the pupils cannot be detained in a class till they face the public exams! The end result is that the high salary paid to the profession now has the effect of retaining the not so fit in the profession! No wonder most students aspiring to score high resort to taking private tuition! The teaching standards are so appalling, not necessarily in the govt. schools alone. Most private institutions make up for it by coaching for the test and exam!
One factor not much appreciated perhaps is that education is a lucrative field and most institutions are run by politicians or those with the right political connections. The minorities are powerful too, politically! Education is big business now, stupid!
The question of good remuneration for the teaching profession is a matter of concern all over the world. It was said that many of the better teachers left the UK for the US since it paid better. But in the States, the complaint used to be that the teachers did not get as much as the doctors, engineers, lawyers, accountants, etc.
But this has had a sinister effect on society. Who really earn well now? The film stars, politicians, the sports persons, those in business. What is the value of academic learning now? How is Shakespeare and Milton relevant now, or a Socrates and Plato? hoe does history or literature matter? In India, you have a vast bureaucracy,at the local, state and national levels, with the benefits of a rising high income and handsome pension, where most posts are reserved for those with just the minimum qualification. Why then aspire for anything higher? See how easy things have become: mere attendance at school will take you up to the public exam, mere pass will get you a cushy job if you happen to belong to the politically right community! Why strive hard then?
And the youth of the country has before them all these glamorous, high earning figures as their models and heroes. The TV keeps before them these images 24x7. The ads constantly extol such a life style. Look at a mass circulating main newspaper like the Times of India or the Bangalore Mirror from its stable- more than half is devoted to sports, entertainment, politics, and a discourse on loosening all societal control!These are the influences on our youngsters now. They are the de facto teachers, since the youth spend much more time before the TV ( or now the mobile ) screen than in college or in study. It is not surprising that parents have so little influence on their children, in the face of peer and societal pressure. Most parents do not even -cannot even- know what the boys and girls do with their mobiles all the time!
It used to be said in the 90s that in the US, the school drop out rate was very high- most of the drop outs landing in jail! The schools were infested with drug addicts and peddlers, girls tending babies instead of their studies, pupils carrying guns to school, ( and using it too), gangs operating in the school premises, prevalence of STD/AIDS, etc. The figures are still high, after two decades. It is revealed that about 8300 students drop out of high schools each day (3 million in a year);about 36% of the 9th graders drop out and 15% have to repeat the class! About 75% of the crimes are committed by the drop outs. About 40% of Hispanic girl students drop out due to pregnancy!. (See www.Statistic Brain.com/high school drop out statistics, 1.1.2014)
In India too, there are complaints that school drop out rate is high, but mercifully, the drop outs work and earn, and do not land up in jails. In the US, it was said that the govt spent twice as much on the drop outs in jail, as on schooling! In India, we have better supermarkets and multiplexes than schools and libraries! This is perhaps symbolic of a system which breeds more consumers than scholars! The drop outs do not qualify for jobs, while 50% of the nominal graduates are not employable! What a scene!
The US education system was criticised as being backward, when the USSR sent up the Sputnik in 1957. The system worked to relegate humanities and exalt science. But in a decade, the youth got disillusioned with even that. Like in India, many commissions examined the problems; and like in India nothing was achieved. At least the better performing and more motivated Indian youth can still dream of going to the US, but the US youth it seems can only drop out and get into jails!
It is very evident that the educational system is rotten in the two biggest democracies of the world! That in turn is due to something rotten in the society!There is no vision other than an economy measured by its paper prosperity and destructive military capability. This is a philosophical problem at base, but which modern democracy will talk of philosophy?
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