Recently, during an online discussion on the importance of the teaching profession, the principal of a school raised these questions: “How many of our youngsters want to become teachers? Why is teaching not considered an attractive profession?”
If we ask school students what they want to become, I am sure, most of them will mention professions such as doctor, engineer, lawyer, architect, chartered accountant, and entrepreneur, but not ‘teacher’. Has teaching ceased to be an attractive profession? Many people might reply: “It has never been an attractive profession in India”. Why? It has never been a lucrative career. Should it be? It is a debatable question.
Different reasons
It came as a shock to me when a talented teacher liked by her students for her excellent teaching and admired by her colleagues for her knowledge, quit her teaching profession and became a freelance translator and trainer. When asked why she did so, the response she gave was even more shocking: “It is a sign of protest. Teachers in private schools and colleges get much less salary than their counterparts in government institutions though more talented teachers can be found in private schools and colleges. Across India this is the case but there are no effective regulations to correct the system…” Should a teacher who says teaching is her passion quit teaching just because she is not paid on par with her counterparts in government educational institutions?
Someone’s passion for teaching won’t satisfy all their monetary needs and give them comforts which other professions provide. I recently met a teacher with a post-graduate degree in Mathematics and a degree in education. When I asked her whether she enjoyed teaching, she replied, “How can I enjoy being a teacher when I am paid only eight thousand rupees per month? My friend working in a government-aided school earns around forty thousand rupees. Is it not injustice?” Unfortunately, there is no effective regulatory body to state that it is injustice and act on it. It is true teachers in India, especially most of those who work in private organizations, struggle to support themselves as academics. They are voiceless victims. There is no organization to speak for their rights. Even government teachers go on strike now and then demanding more salary and benefits.
Do teachers deserve a better salary? “Yes”. Why should they be paid more? Though I won’t say teaching is a noble profession and justify the noble souls to be silent victims of discrimination, I consider teaching an important profession and justify their demand for a better salary. Teachers touch the lives of young people, shape their thinking and prepare them for the future. As CS Lewis says, “The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts.” A challenging job, indeed! Are the policy-makers convinced?
Teaching need not become a lucrative profession but it should become a decent profession. It can become a decent career for many only when really knowledgeable, talented and passionate people join the profession. They will do so only if the salary is attractive. A decent pay will make teachers love their profession and be committed to it. Only those who are committed to the profession can inspire their students and ignite the spark of learning in them.
As the number of talented teachers leaving the teaching profession is on the rise, private schools and colleges employ mediocre teachers by paying them a meagre salary. We can guess the outcome when mediocrity rules the education sector. Mediocrity should never be allowed to rule and ruin the education system. If this virus is allowed to spread to other educational institutions, soon the system will be infected beyond cure.
It is the responsibility of the government to lure brilliant minds to teaching and make them love the profession. The government can improve the quality of teaching in the country by recruiting meritorious teachers, paying them decently and treating them well. This is the real meaning of investing in education.
The author is an academic, columnist and freelance writer. You can contact him at rayanal@yahoo.co.uk
