Saturday, September 5, 2009

Teachers: Now and then

This post has been published by me on the occasion of the Teachers' Day as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 2; the second edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.


I'll jus describe the 2 prototypes according to everyone's presumption:

teachers then:
"matha pitha guru deivam" is the best quote that will describe the teachers then.. they were considered as a second parent and a step above god.. the respect they deserve is unmatchable..

teachers now:
A test is being conducted. every1 in the class is copying either from the book or from some1's copy.. the concerned teacher is nowhere in sight.. suddenly he enters the classroom and says "arey yaar, halla mat karo.. HOD sir aa jayenge"
for those who dont understand hindi here is the translation "dont make noise.. HOD sir may come any minute"..
(this was a true incident)

am jus gonna argue about this presumption.. i wasnt tutored by a "teacher then".. so i really dont know hw he/she teaches.. based on the stories heard from ma parents and every1.. i too accept the axiom that "teachers then" were very loyal,dedicated and passionate.. the "teachers then" had overall development of the student as the main motive..

today.. we are unable to see the good teachers bcoz teachers such as described above mask the good teachers.. it is a human tendency to start with the negatives rather than the positives.. there are very few inspirational n dedicated teachers n all of us are not taught by those great teachers..
the reason is population explosion..
ya u heard me rite.. in the past,every teacher will tutor 10 students.. today every teacher tutors around 50 students.. the steady increase in competition and the decrease in the number of pple takin up the profession can be attributed to this.. wen there are more number of students and very less number of teachers.. whom shd we blame?? the teaching profession has therefore evolved and become very commercial.. am sure the "teachers then" would find it tough to manage the situation now..the basic flaw is in the education system..

due to this reason, i dont see why tuition centres shouldnt come?? since it has already become commercial.. y dont u make it more commercial.. but i strongly disagree to all those teachers who take the same subjects at school and at tuition.. repitition doesnt solve the problem..

n plus there is a school in chennai called the Krishnamurthy foundation india(KFI) which tries to re-create the same teaching conditions as in the past..
the teaching under the banyan tree.. they aim at overall development.. n the teacher student ratio is high.. the only problem- too expensive..

so.. as i said with money u can get the finest education.. also if u dont hav money.. n if u r the best.. u'll be tutored by the best.. this country is not devoid of good teachers.. it jus lacks good teachers.. as for the topic i dont find any difference between the teachers now and teachers then.. teachers are teachers..

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton are Vipul, Rajalakshmi, Dhiman, Ranee[1], [2], [3] , Avada, Indian Pundit, Sojo, Aneet, Pramathesh, Aativas, Sid, Pra, Ajinkya, Lakshmi, Govind, Shilpa, Bharathi, Shankar, Mytuppence, Azad, Pawan, Pankaja, Saimanohar, Guria, Shruti,Nasrajan and Richa. Click on their respective names to read their posts on Teachers : Aaj Kal. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

19 comments:

Soin said...

cliched

Unknown said...

Hi vishnu...

My first time here.... A very good post..I am also from chennai.. Very nice to see another participant from chennai...

ur point about the tution centre was correct..check out my post too... All the best for blog-a-ton...

Vishnu said...

@soin:there is nothin we can do abt it..

@shankar: thanks for the visit.. ya sure..

Bharathi said...

You finished it nice. I can understand you are speaking it very honestly and I liked it a lot though I may difer in a few places. And alos I liked the way you kept it short. all the best.

Saimanohar said...

Very well written and all the best

Shilpa Garg said...

An honest post!!

Anonymous said...

I am a first timer here.. you have a very nice blog here.. "Krishnamurthy foundation india(KFI)" has taken a nice initiative.. I have heard of few more schools like that which have adapted from Gurukul system.. nice post.. Do read my take on this topic and all the best!!

Dhiman said...

This was short and apt one... you pointed it very correctly the teacher student ratio is a big factor now-a-days...

Indian Pundit said...

Hello.....first time here. Saw u are a fellow blog-a-tonic.

Thoughtful post. Cheers

Vishnu said...

@bharathi.. thanks.. n there always shd be difference of opinion..or else there is no fun in lyfe..
@saimanohar,shilpa n IP.. thanks 4 the comments..
@ashwini.. thanks for the appreciation.. read ur post long post..jus forgot to comment..
@dhiman.. yeah tht is a serios consideration..

P.S:read all ur posts.. jus got sick of writin the same comments..

Lakshmi Rajan said...

Short and neat without getting into who is better . Good luck!

HaRy!! said...

nicely written ..yep i think i have heard of the foundation on chennai, now that yu hav told will hav a look abt it whereabouts .... cya around tooo...tc

HaRy

Dr. Ranee Kaur Banerjee said...

Vishnu, I told myself that I would read every Blog-a-ton post and give every blogger as honest a response as I possibly, politely can.
You keep contradicting yourself! And how can I agree that you can get a good education with just money!
I'm really not sure what to make of your post! I guess I like your tone of voice and do appreciate some of the points you make. But you make them so sweepingly, dismissing all mitigations!

Ranee

Vishnu said...

@lakshmi rajan.. ya thanks
@hary..followin u dude.. looks like u didnt update ur blog since ur overwhelming comments on stupid who.. am gettin a mail daily..

Vishnu said...

@ranee..
thanks for givin a very honest response.. i was expectin one such response from a known person.. comin to the point.. can u point out where i contradict myself.. so tht it will either help me in correcting myself or atleast help me in correcting ur ideas..
its a fact tht money can get u a good education.. i said its a fact n many pple will agree with me on dis one..jus ask urself this question.. "if money cant buy good education then what can??"

HaRy!! said...

hey vishnu...no i hav written an other one! didnt yu check it? cya around

Prashansa said...

Good post! But I think you are mistaken about the money! I am paying 1200 Rs per month in a reputed school for my daughter and still I am facing so many problems!The problems I or my parents did not face when I was in the school and paying less than 100 Rs per month!I think our atitude is one of the problems not the money!

Vishnu said...

@ pra..
thats bcoz of inflation.. n yeah it attributes mainly to human mentality..
those days it didnt matter whether u had education or not.. u could survive.. but today thts not the case.. u need education for survival.. the situation in the past n present are totally different..
n lastly.. r u tellin me tht u r not satisfied with the education provided by the reputed school?? then jus change the school.. my statement was with money u can get good education.. u r jus wasting ur money then..

Vipul Grover said...

Well aftr reading the post also wnt thru d cmmnts. I kind of agree with evry cmmnt frm Bharathi nd shankar to Raneeji nd Pra.. Teachers-student ratio is definitely a big factor bt money is not evrything honey!
For eg, u suggest Pra to change d school of her child.. wat if she's not cntnt in d nxt too? U jus can't keep changing.. at d end u'll hav 2 compromise. Money cn give u all the paraphernalia like a nice canteen at school, some state of d art sporting facilities nd special bus service for children but u r wrong 2 assume that education will also b better for sure.
Take d example of private engineering colleges 4 tht matter.
Rgarding, Tution culture nd commercialisation, i rmmbr we already hd a mini-discussion on an earlier post:)
All d best 4 voting:)