UK and US governments are boosting the teachers' power to tackle bad behaviour, whereas our growing wings are being cut off by parents threatening to go to the media. Some parents spare no effort to highlight trivial problems
A question often haunts me: 'Who is responsible for poor classroom discipline and unsatisfactory academic results?' Just some time ago, a friend of mine was astounded by a student's remark: 'If you exert pressure on me to complete my pending assignments, I'll complain to a YouTube channel, which will tarnish your image.' Thinking about students' defiant gestures, I find myself in a complete whirl.
There was a time when a school was considered to be a temple of learning and the teachers a burning candle.
Teachers were put at par with God. Both parents and schools succeeded in imbuing students with moral standards. On the contrary, today students regard their teachers as being no more than a service provider.
There is an abundance of resources on the Internet to induce students to make a mountain out of a molehill when teachers make a mistake, but there is hardly any effort to inculcate ethical conduct into them.
The goal of every school is to instil a feeling of goodwill, discipline and unity by engaging students in school assemblies, group work and extra-curricular activities. Unfortunately, parents tend to send application letters to the teachers with a request that their wards not be compelled to comply with the school rules.
Constructive punishment, not harsh, is beneficial.
However, outside interference in a teacher's domain is not acceptable.
Threatening and criticising teachers to undermine them based on power and money might create mayhem in schools. The bitter truth is that teachers feel that they are puppets at the hands of the parents and school administrators. As such, intimidating factors make many teachers shy away from participating in disciplining the children in school.
Everyone knows that marks obtained in an exam are not the right indication of the overall talent of a student.
Helpless teachers are sandwiched between the goals of the national curriculum and parents' demand for marks. To cater to the demands of the parents, teachers are under compulsion to help students memorise answers and score better, keeping concepts and life skills aside. To make the situation worse, higher institutions and the government award schools and students based on results, not their skills and innate talents.
According to a BBC report, parental endorsement of their children's misbehaviour is a major problem behind pupils' lack of discipline. The governments of the UK and the US are boosting the teachers' power to tackle bad behaviour, whereas our growing wings are being cut off by parents threatening to go to the media. We, teachers, are of no value and power at times. Even if a problem can be settled in a meeting, some parents spare no effort to highlight trivial problems and provoke nationwide criticism, which leaves teachers' careers and schools' progress in limbo.
It is a fact that when examinations are in full swing, some parents go on a trip, demanding that their offspring be allowed to sit for alternative examinations.
The legal provision of promoting students to the higher classes regardless of the failure to meet the minimum academic requirements has led the future of education to uncertainty.
The attendance of parents during the Parent-Teacher Meeting clearly hints at their craving for money rather than their children's holistic development.
All of our exams should be merit-based. The percentage shouldn't be a hindrance to accessing any opportunity. The government should override the practicum theory. Some representative teachers, who have a good understanding of classroom problems, must be appointed in the process of developing the curricula.
Apart from it, the Continuous Assessment System (CAS) must be introduced in each academic institute for developing a love for lifelong reading. In private institutions, if results are not up to the mark, parents are enraged and teachers are sacked. So, who is there to understand the teachers' plight? Children are much closer to their parents than teachers.
But parents should give ample time to their children and pluck out what is on their minds from their unwilling mouths. Due to modernisation, there is a tendency to go for a nuclear family. Our students don't learn cultural and traditional values from their grandparents.
They barely go to the countryside with their children to let them experience a wider community and broaden their horizon.
They just drop their children at the school gate and rush to work. Their responsibilities do not end there. They behave as if schools are only child care centres.
School administrators lay emphasis on decent school uniforms for students.
But once they are home, they let them wear anything of their choice and devalue this profession.
They never tell their children to pursue careers as teachers. We hardly admire and send a thank you note to teachers when they do a commendable job for our kids at school. Nevertheless, we manage our time to rush to our children's school to file a complaint.
And it's likely to flare public outcry. Too much pampering and endorsing our children's actions result in their dependency. So, in the least developed countries, teaching is a stepping stone to other opportunities.
Teachers and parents alone cannot achieve the goals. There have to be frequent meetings among the three sides - teachers, parents and administrators.
Teachers identify genuine classroom problems; parents have to approve of them and seek collectively ways out. A punishment scheme in today's time is a must. Later, administrators have to manage teaching resources and monitor them on a regular basis and evaluate the impact. In the absence of anyone's side, the goal cannot be reached.
Even if it is achieved, it takes too much time.
Teachers do not expect a small portion of anybody's property and words of rage but their constructive suggestions and encouragement to keep them working for excellence.
Sherma heads the Department of English at Euro School
A version of this article appears in the print on February 25, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.