What's happening to our teaching system?

This is the flash news in NDTV now. Due to a petty mistake committed by the small girl, the teacher allegedly banged the little one's head, and made her stand in the blistering heat for 2 hours. The girl had a seizure and was rushed to the hospital, where she slipped into a coma. 20 minutes ago, NDTV has recd the news that the girl has passed away !!!!

Last month, there was a similar incident in hyderabad where a teacher bashed up a student over a trivial issue. The boy complained on pain in the ribs . Similar incident happened in Trichy when a teacher beat a 4 year old student to death.

Similar to the students, think so teachers too requires stringent monitoring. In US and in middle east, if the teachers beats up the student severely, they wud be taken to task by the authorities if the parents complain !!

Across the world, Indians are looked up always for their level of education they receive back home. Even in my husband's company the CEO, who is a local says that education in India is the most difficult system & really challenging. That is the reason why they prefer to have Indians for really important jobs. When we are praised across the world for our education system, its really a big black mark to see such happenings in the teaching system. Rant

I thought this would happen only in rural areas, but the 3 incidents reported in the past few months, have happened in cities. If a teacher commits a mistake like this, he/she should be treated as a common criminal irrespective of the education background.

Appreciate your opinions pls.

dear shruthi,
a really thought provoking and touching post from you. in olden days " GURU SISHYA' relationship was based only on moral values. Teacher was having all the noble qualities and knowledge.but nowadays everything has become so commercial. those who got the seat through money won't have nobility in their character. they would behave in this manner.
as you say in all other countries there is restriction that teachers shouldnot even abuse the children. but one thing in India if we bring that rule, all rogues would take advantage of it. The pity is the teachers are not raising their hands against these rogues. they show their anger and power only to innocent kids toprive their heroism! they forget the nice way to deal with any issue. in chennai , recently one teacher killed
a girl and with the help of the watchman put the body in the water tank. these beasts should be sentenced then and there without any trail.Rant
with love
Amma

20+ views and only a lone reply...

Amma, you have rightly put the aspect of Guru-Sishya relationship has changed compared to the yesteryears. If you ask anyone about Guru-Sishya relationship, they would end up saying,"Its a commercial movie, Rajni and Prabhu were really entertaining"

Hi
This was really bad. Every few months something like this is happening around the country from north to south & west to east. not parrticularly in rural areas. It happens in best pubic & pivate schools also.
On smallest mistakes sometime teachers become so aggressive they loose all logic & turrns in killer. May be their own frustations play a major role.
There should be emotional Stability test & psychological analysis of those who qulify as teachers.

Sharadha ,

A very thought provoking post.

I feel that education has become very commercial of late and no one is interested in learning the essence of why we are being educated but education is looked as a means to secure seat in a good "engineering" college and marks is all that matters.

This is the sad state of our system. I cant blame the teaching system, rather I would blame a select band of teachers who give corporal punishments as a part of their "strict" process in grooming the child.

I read about this incident today morning in paper, and was almost moved to tears. This is partly due to empathy of the child, and partly due to a recollection of my childhood experiences. I studied my KG's in a reputed school in suburban chennai. I do not wish to quote the name of the school here, as this is still a reputed institution producing numerous centums and state rank holders every year. I am sure, many IL'ites in this part of chennai have their wards in this school. I was in UKG then, and I have always been a talkative child. During a class, I was caught talking with a friend and was pulled out. It was the Tamil class, and I still do remember ( after nearly 18 years) the incident. I was beat badly and made to kneel down in front of the class and my pinafore and first two buttons of my shirt were removed. It was a co-ed school, and I did not really know the importance of this incident until some hours flew by. I was made to kneel like that for one whole day, and was sent home end of the day. Apparently ( my mom told me later) I was silent, and was almost upto tears after I reached home. Upon asking, I narrated the incident and my mother immeditely dashed to school. To our luck, we found the teacher, and my mother fought - yes - FOUGHT with her. She made quite a dramatic scene out of anger. Infact, she said she would take it to the authorities if the teacher does not quit the school.

The next day, my mother spoke to the principal, removed me immediately from the school ( I had to waste about 4 months at home before joining again) and the teacher was dismissed. This incident created a roar in the area, and then school was moved to new premises in months following a voilation of rules.

Somehow, such incidents only breed contempt over teachers. I have come across some wonderful teachers in my life, and these bizzare events make us question the worth of the community.

I really wish the teacher there is atleast jailed for her deeds. But that is not the end of the story. Today it was delhi, and tomorrow it may be bombay. I think a permanent solution is to make teaching a profession on par with other governemnt jobs. There needs to be a license issued to teachers, and governemnt/private qualification should be a mandate. Also, the quality of training offered, the pay scale of the teachers needs to be revised.

Although such incidents may make headlines for a day or two, there are many such children, who probably did not die, but do face terrible moments in school. There needs to be a permanent, full fledged solution to this.

Sharadha, A very thought provoking post! Thanks

Sabitha and Jai - You are absolutely right. The value of true education is lost to just securing a seat. It no longer matters to know things, just matters to vomit at the right places. And true, emotional stability needs to be there and absolutely is essential to be checked! Sad state of Teachers!

Archana

Hai

The news is really shocking.

The present teachers are taking the children for granted and the punishment they are giving is not at all tolerable. Some law should come to control the teachers.

Education has lost its essence and todays school has no aim except for commercial benefits.

andal

Very sad.May the child's soul rest in peace.Any form of physical punishment should not be given.I have seen many parents in my school(there is no strict punishment in my school),who tell the teachers to beat their kids if they do not obey or dont do homework.The parents and teachers must talk on how to deal with their kids.

Originally Posted by jaishree9

Hi
This was really bad. Every few months something like this is happening around the country from north to south & west to east. not parrticularly in rural areas. It happens in best pubic & pivate schools also.
On smallest mistakes sometime teachers become so aggressive they loose all logic & turrns in killer. May be their own frustations play a major role.
There should be emotional Stability test & psychological analysis of those who qulify as teachers.

Thanks jaishree for your feedback !

Its really sad that teachers vent out their anger on students for no reason. Of course, we do have good teachers but actions like these from a few teachers puts a huge black mark on the teaching community.

As you have rightly put, teachers should be emotionally stable in order to set an example to the students.

Originally Posted by Sabitha_K

Sharadha ,

A very thought provoking post.

I feel that education has become very commercial of late and no one is interested in learning the essence of why we are being educated but education is looked as a means to secure seat in a good "engineering" college and marks is all that matters.

Sabitha, thanks for your reply.

Now-a-days, instead of asking "how many marks" during admission, the question asked is "how many lakhs". Education is seen as a good commercial business off late, and to save on money, small time schools employ people who do not have solid teaching background !