Education commissioner's take on Govt school teachers
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: May 01, 2023 -

UNLIKE ministers and MLAs concerned who tend to abstain from questioning the integrity, punctuality and working style of government school teachers for reasons best known to themselves, education commissioner H Cyan-prakash has been outright in asserting that large numbers of teachers enjoying government salary are not up to the people's expectation during an incentive award distribution programme held on Saturday.

Apart from lacking individual initiative and commitment to guide the pupils and justify monthly payment from the public coffer, many a government school teachers seem to be bereft of integrity as had been laid bare when special drives conducted by student organisations often bring to the fore absence of teachers in his/her place of posting under one pretext or another.

While lobbying for favourable place of posting had been the norm, there were also reports pertaining to teachers recruited under the SSA and RMSA schemes found pursuing career to become doctors while drawing salaries and allowances as teachers, submitting doctored documents to join the noble profession of teaching, skipping classes by designating hired teachers in their place of posting, etc.

Such reports published in the media are some glaring examples that the system of education in Manipur, especially government-run schools and colleges, is in urgent need of reformation.

It needs no reminding that the greatest challenge and responsibility of building a corrupt free society calls for visionary teachers who can play a very fundamental role as they are at the very core of human resource development.

They ought to be reminded that educational institutions are in no way a privileged space but a sacred place filled with potential human resources of different seeds waiting to be nurtured.

It is also often stated that the importance of a teacher as an architect in building a clean society demands that only the best and the intelligent and competent members should join this noble profession.

More so this noble profession calls for utmost moral integrity that ought to finally get inculcated in the students.

Regardless of the present regime claiming that the recruitment of teachers are being conducted in a fair and transparent manner, it's an undeniable fact that not all the teachers posted in far flung rural areas, particularly in the hill districts, discharge their duty as mandated but remain at home and share their salary with their substitutes, who are assigned for the role through an understanding with the village authorities.

Having acknowledged such unethical practices, the onus is on the commissioner to do the needful for overhauling the ubiquitous phenomenon so as to weed out those who perceive the teaching profession as only means of livelihood or enhance their social status, rather than taking teaching as the noblest task of guiding and shaping the future pillars of the society.

Moreover, presence of negligent teachers not only blots the teaching profession and undermines those who have been diligently serving the society but also poses as one of the greatest impediments to growth and development of a society.

It not only is depressing but also dissipates hope.

As teachers are considered the hope for a clean and better society they need to be reminded to distinguish themselves from the rest in not only demonstrating profound knowledge but more importantly let develop a firm moral character in the students and through acts that are in tune which the profession for which nobility stands out.