I always had fabulous teachers. When I was of little (use, size, importance) age, I had a few scary looking, but (reaffirmed repeatedly with as) warm hearted teachers. Parents tell, I was a horrible student, not from the perspective of results but, from my insatiable queries regarding apparently everything visible around. Mother keeps telling me the (horror) stories my teachers used to confess to her in Parent meetings. With time, I grew, inasmuch as the level of inquisitiveness did.
Don't know why and how (and what for), I managed to be the top ranker in the school and later, the college. The teachers were always happy with me for this. Perhaps, only this, for my questions, mostly mistimed and rather embarrassing, always used to make them uncomfortable. I remember once asking innocuously about the process of reproduction employed by the winged vertebrates, when the teacher was attempting diehard to altogether skip that not-so-socially-discussable section of the chapter. The teacher had silenced me by asking to meet her, in person, post lecture. In collegiate times, I met some of the most hilarious persons in the namesake of teachers. A few of them were the just passed outs. They were employed to teach us for the simple reason of them being too unintelligent to be employed even in Indian IT companies. Some others were well-settled housewives who had decided to teach us, for it rendered them a handsome shopping credit, over and above the handful sum their (respected and respective) husbands would have ever entrusted them with. In my professional life, I was imparted training by such people at times who knew much little to me and hence frequently lauded me, so that I can talk with the chalk, while they amused themselves with the my pretty colleagues.
Teaching, unfortunately, requires knowledge. Degree, though are the minimum guarantee of an individual possessing a specified set of skills, however are not so reliable. I have experienced a few heavily qualified people who were (and still are) unable to teach trivia, while a few (read rarest of the rare), who could teach Object Orientation without a book and using just plain English as an aid.
The regulations on Universities command that a lecturer must be a Masters at minimum, while PhD is recommended. In the booming economy of India, any one with a right degree is getting a job. They may or may not deserve it. A very insignificant fraction of graduates choose for post graduation. PhD is rare. Where will then Universities fill the vacancies from? Simple. Majority of such people, who were good for nothing and hence had to choose higher education as the only recourse.
A few people do take teaching as the full time career. But their percentage is too little to accommodate the demand. Additionally, opening a Coaching Class has become a more profitable business model, lately. Students derogate school faculties and join a coaching class. Later, they derogate that coaching and join another. The Coaching Business foster, the Universities perish.
And this march to perdition is pretty convincing. Teachers are, unarguably, the principal factors in deciding the reputation of the college. The placements, as a metric, is a function of the quality of the teachers. The better are the teachers, the better are the students. A company recruits the best. They want value for money!
So, to fuel the economy with fresh blood and sharper intellect, teachers play an quintessential role. What do they get in return? Peanuts. For record, the salary of the Dean of IITB is, on an average, 10 times less than the highest CTC offered to the BTech graduate from the same institute. That, of a small time ad hoc lecturer in some B class city should hence be calculated proportionally.
In pristine India, the teachers used to live a austere life in a rather skewed locale in jungles imparting knowledge to the wards, while the wards being available as the full time utility boys. Neither can we expect anyone to do so today, nor should anyone do it. Especially, when wards value teachers only for a recommendation letter and not for the knowledge, and when regulations warrants minimum educational qualification for being employable but not for (minimum) respectable pay cheque.
Education is not a joke. Nor are the teachers. We allocate 4.1% of the GDP for education. Not all is spent and a substantial portion spent is to accommodate Reservations. Why not accept teaching as a profession and teacher, consequently, as professionals? Lets pay them at par, respecting their contribution and not just pay them with truck loads of fake respect, for respect can never be paid; it is always earned. In the event of we paying them scantily, we will continue to get horrible students like me, who has been laughing all his lives on them, for a reason, now much obvious.
Don't know why and how (and what for), I managed to be the top ranker in the school and later, the college. The teachers were always happy with me for this. Perhaps, only this, for my questions, mostly mistimed and rather embarrassing, always used to make them uncomfortable. I remember once asking innocuously about the process of reproduction employed by the winged vertebrates, when the teacher was attempting diehard to altogether skip that not-so-socially-discussable section of the chapter. The teacher had silenced me by asking to meet her, in person, post lecture. In collegiate times, I met some of the most hilarious persons in the namesake of teachers. A few of them were the just passed outs. They were employed to teach us for the simple reason of them being too unintelligent to be employed even in Indian IT companies. Some others were well-settled housewives who had decided to teach us, for it rendered them a handsome shopping credit, over and above the handful sum their (respected and respective) husbands would have ever entrusted them with. In my professional life, I was imparted training by such people at times who knew much little to me and hence frequently lauded me, so that I can talk with the chalk, while they amused themselves with the my pretty colleagues.
Teaching, unfortunately, requires knowledge. Degree, though are the minimum guarantee of an individual possessing a specified set of skills, however are not so reliable. I have experienced a few heavily qualified people who were (and still are) unable to teach trivia, while a few (read rarest of the rare), who could teach Object Orientation without a book and using just plain English as an aid.
The regulations on Universities command that a lecturer must be a Masters at minimum, while PhD is recommended. In the booming economy of India, any one with a right degree is getting a job. They may or may not deserve it. A very insignificant fraction of graduates choose for post graduation. PhD is rare. Where will then Universities fill the vacancies from? Simple. Majority of such people, who were good for nothing and hence had to choose higher education as the only recourse.
A few people do take teaching as the full time career. But their percentage is too little to accommodate the demand. Additionally, opening a Coaching Class has become a more profitable business model, lately. Students derogate school faculties and join a coaching class. Later, they derogate that coaching and join another. The Coaching Business foster, the Universities perish.
And this march to perdition is pretty convincing. Teachers are, unarguably, the principal factors in deciding the reputation of the college. The placements, as a metric, is a function of the quality of the teachers. The better are the teachers, the better are the students. A company recruits the best. They want value for money!
So, to fuel the economy with fresh blood and sharper intellect, teachers play an quintessential role. What do they get in return? Peanuts. For record, the salary of the Dean of IITB is, on an average, 10 times less than the highest CTC offered to the BTech graduate from the same institute. That, of a small time ad hoc lecturer in some B class city should hence be calculated proportionally.
In pristine India, the teachers used to live a austere life in a rather skewed locale in jungles imparting knowledge to the wards, while the wards being available as the full time utility boys. Neither can we expect anyone to do so today, nor should anyone do it. Especially, when wards value teachers only for a recommendation letter and not for the knowledge, and when regulations warrants minimum educational qualification for being employable but not for (minimum) respectable pay cheque.
Education is not a joke. Nor are the teachers. We allocate 4.1% of the GDP for education. Not all is spent and a substantial portion spent is to accommodate Reservations. Why not accept teaching as a profession and teacher, consequently, as professionals? Lets pay them at par, respecting their contribution and not just pay them with truck loads of fake respect, for respect can never be paid; it is always earned. In the event of we paying them scantily, we will continue to get horrible students like me, who has been laughing all his lives on them, for a reason, now much obvious.
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