September is the month of teachers and as a token of our obeisance we remember all our teachers and acknowledge their contribution in our lives by celebrating this day as Teachers Day on the 5th of September every year. Apart from remembering our past President Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, this day is also a day when we can as teachers introspect and check on what does this Role of a Teacher mean to each of us. History has it that when Dr Radhakrishnan became the President of India, some of his students and friends requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday, on 5 September. To which he had replied, “Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud privilege if September 5th is observed as Teachers’ Day.” Such noble thoughts of the late President which is unprecedented a day for Teachers to be acknowledged by all. Our country also has a rich heritage of the Guru and his Shishya relationship and our mythology right from the Ramayana to the Mahabharata has examples of great Gurus like Vishwamitra who led the young princes to the forest and the rest was a saga by itself, enabling and empowering them to defeat Ravana leaving a strong message of how a Guru can lead the path. Likewise we have Drona in Mahabharata whose students of who we remember Arjuna for his devotion to his Guru and the trust between Arjuna and his Guru even during the times of war goes to speak volumes about the trust that students repose in their Guru and the confidence that the Guru has on his student. The context of such relationships has evolved and changed drastically over the years. But in India to this day we revere our Gurus.
In these modern times, our student expectation from teachers is very different and so is the expectation from the teacher very different. Our students have grown so as some of the teachers in an age of Technology advancements. The challenges of such an age is diverse for distractions are very many. Students have a variety of choices in their life right from the use of mobiles, to apps to social media to travel to food to dress. However, their choice when it comes to selection of teachers is limited while their choice when it comes to selection of courses is varied. In such an age, it is important that:
This is where FDP plays a strong role, we need to get our staff trained to face the challenges of the new generation and also ensure that all the training and learning that they do in these FDPs is implemented to the full so that students benefit from this. Happy Teachers Day to all!
