Editorial: The Right Support for Quality Education

Education is reasonably universal now and more than the details of lessons learnt from textbooks, the memories that stay longer with people are of the teachers who taught them. Every person invariably has a teacher who either inspired the entire class to pursue their dreams or toed the other end of the spectrum and actively engaged in stifling imaginations, enforcing norms. Today is Teacher’s Day and an apt time to go over what role the teachers can play in preparing students for life. The pressure of examinations and competition and the tendency to prioritise rote over comprehension has handicapped the teaching fraternity into becoming problem solvers, handing out answers and solutions for students to learn instead of assisting students in finding their own answers, encouraging them to enquire more and develop faculties that question more often instead of accepting things as dished out. Because students look up to teachers, it is important for teachers to offer themselves as role models, but it would be even better if teachers could introduce their wards to personalities worth emulating and inspiring students towards excellence and onwards on the path of responsibility. Recent developments do not offer much hope on this count, as was displayed by the teachers themselves when they deployed a series of embarrassing arguments to challenge the transfer of excess teachers from ‘urban’ schools to rural locations. Arguing that this would disrupt classes in their present schools mid-session, they inexcusably ignored the fact that non-compliance would mean that students at schools they had been posted to would have to go without teachers for the entire academic session. Typically, they received the support of opposition groups which echoed the same lame excuse in chorus. Thankfully, the government stood its ground this year and the transfer orders were eventually obeyed. Teachers should also motivate and inspire students towards learning, not spoon-feeding them the syllabus till the exams and then picking up another batch to repeat the same. If one agrees that these are the qualities one seeks in teachers, the obvious question that follows is, can one be trained for such a role? And do the existing models of ‘training’ focus enough on these aspects of teaching? Only trained teachers will be able to answer these questions, but fact remains that these should not even be issues that distract from more important policy interventions. Teachers, ever since modern education was introduced, are required to be qualified. For how long have B. Ed. courses, for example, been offered? ...a very, very long time. And yet, it is only now that precious resources and attention are being invested in getting even already appointed teachers with substantial experience to acquire these degrees. If the teacher appointment process had not been blatantly usurped by enthusiastic proponents of nepotism, Sikkim would have been deliberating weightier issues by now. Appointment of deserving and qualified teachers should always have been a given, and then one could engage in more meaningful discussions on how to retain the better teachers, appoint better facilities in schools and update syllabus and teaching methods. Sikkim’s pursuit of quality education is welcome, but for it to get anywhere, the ennui that HRD Department has become will have to be shaken off first. Ironically, this is the one aspect that remains missing from all discussions on the delivery of quality education. The ideal teachers and the perfect students, will after all, need the support of at least a reasonably functional Human Resource Development Department which is as motivated to appoint better facilities in schools [by way of libraries, laboratories and even basics like electricity, toilets and running water] as it is excited by the opportunity to conduct trainings.