Teachers

There was a program on a business channel on the importance of teachers in our life(on NDTV PROFIT) . The program concluded by saying that senior teachers get paid even less than an administrative assistant in an MNC . I started thinking about the importance of teachers in my life at school, graduation and post graduation level . One of the most significant contributors in my life who would have helped shape my world view was our English Literature professor J C Coelho. He was termed as a ‘walking talking encyclopedia’ by most of the students .His dedication and commitment to the profession was a unthought-of . I do not think he considered teaching as his profession. It was a passion and hence teaching English Literature ceased to be a job for him ,it was a way of life . I remember once when we had a discussion ( many moons back !)related to the last dialogue of Socrates before his death . There Socrates tell one of his disciples , Crito before dying that – I owe a cock to Asclepius . We incidentally had the same reference in one of our lessons in school . JCC at once asked us what it means . I was able to answer it because of the obvious reason that again in school we had a very dedicated teacher who had explained to us the context of the dialogue . I told him promptly that it means that Socrates wanted his disciple to give an offering to the Greek God of healing/medicine as he has healed him of life by giving him death . JCC at once said that your teacher in school might be a very simple and dedicated person and undoubtedly she was(incidentally he had asked the same question to many batches and only one student many years back was able to answer it !!) – I think her name was Ms Jennifer . Like that there are quite few teachers who have shown me the way , moulded my thinking and even lifestyle . But where are the dedicated teachers these days ?

I read an article the other day that every year in India we produce at least half a million MBAs but about 20000 might be employable out of the entire pool. This is an indicator that the quality of education might be far from satisfactory . But how can you expect a sector to flourish when it offers one of the lowest emoluments and extremely uncertain future prospects . The education sector in its current status in India might not attract the best minds (of course this statement is open to debate and discussion ), but ironically this sector is supposed to mould and create the thought leaders for tomorrow . It is a huge question as to how do we create a generation that is employable with the right skills to tackle the competitive forces that will be unleashed on a growing market like India , say 20 years hence…..