Teaching teachers to teach?

 Sure all of you as 'stakeholders' must be aware of the NEP, the new education policy. Interesting document, moreover open to suggestions, recommendations, reparations! 

Well, what exactly ails the education system in India? Well, in Marathi, my mother tongue, there is a proverb which literally translated would read as follows: if the well has no water, how can you get it in a bucket? A dry well cannot water the farm, right? 

In other words, unless and until, teachers at all the educational levels are at least trained, if not well, how can there be a transformation in the educational scenario? Unfortunately, such is the reality that very, very few teachers at any educational level love teaching. Honourable exceptions to such a sad rule can literally be counted on finger tips. 

Most people choose the career (oh, really!) coz it is convenient every which way.  Well, as it is, education is not result oriented or end intensive. If students do well,they are intelligent. If they do not, none is responsible. People in the teaching field do not prepare much apparently. There are even PG teachers who use the Nirali stuff, and students 'guide' them to the proper page every day!

Horrible stories of teachers in cahoots with the tuition classes, of teachers indirectly leaking the paper which is anyways based on the minimal most that they bothered to teach at all, etc etc keep on doing the rounds. Well, the SSC and HSC question papers get leaked almost habitually!

Sure teachers get burdened with lot of other duties. It is, however, a sad fact much established that they themselves do not take their basic job seriously.  Very, very few teachers, even at the pg level, visit libraries, borrow books, journals, etc. Sure the internet is hardly used in this way either.

Well, etymology wise, education basically comes from 'educare' which means to lead. From darkness to light, from ignorance to light, how can you lead if you forcefully finish off the 'teacher-ly' duties?

In these days of the ChatGPT, and its various versions and variants, very soon the tribe itself would be extinct. At least for self preservation, let us all first and foremost TEACH to REACH our students meaningfully every which way. Hence the need to teach the teachers to teach!

Pratima@ Says Joyce Meyer, "With a chalk and a duster, a teacher can create magic!" Yes, true! Indeed!