TEACHERS-NOT IN THE MINDS BUT IN THE HEARTS

'A student spends 25,000 hours in the campus. The school must have the best of teachers who have the ability to teach, love teaching and build moral qualities' - A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM

On 5th of September every year we celebrate Teachers Day to mark the birth anniversary of Dr.S.Radhakrishnan former President and teacher at heart. It indicates the kind of respect we accord to teaching profession. According to Hindu philosophy, next to mother and father it is the teacher who enjoys the respect. Across the world the teachers are respected because of the role they play in building the nation.

Like any other Teachers Day even this day passes off like any other day. But there has to be certain takeaways in this context. India will have 50 per cent of the population with in the age of 25 years and it is a positive and healthy sign keeping the productivity and the progress of our country. When we look at the population of China it is ageing. Here, in this context, India has an edge against China. With the excellent base of young population, India can progress rapidly despite having some challenges in other areas economically.

There are certain areas where youth need to improve such as ability to dreaming big thinking big and acting big. We have challenges like unemployability where we have ample of opportunities in employment and unfortunately we do not have employable youth to meet the skill sets of the employers. A few freshly recruited employees are served with pink slips because they do not have soft skills. Soft skills are nothing but communication skills consisting both written and oral skills besides other skills like right attitude, presentation skills, team building skills, leadership skills etc.,

Another challenge apart from soft skills is lack of proper encouragement in entrepreneur skills. Indian youth have entrepreneur skills but the parents do not usually encourage their children to opt for this, as there are risks involved in this. Due to lack of social security measures in our country the parents would like their old age to be secured and protected and also advice their children to play safe by going for employment so that they can have regular incomes from employment for their sustenance. It also happens because of fear of failure and fear of criticism. Even if the youth try to experiment in the entrepreneurial perspective they are more worried about the fear of failure and criticism. And probably there would be none to support them in case of failure. Lack of leadership skills is another area to be touched upon. We have good managers not good leaders.

India with a population of a billion plus needs to have adequate representation of leaders across the world. But unfortunately we do not have, as there is no right ambience to learn and experiment. Leadership is the ability to inspire others and it is like having a fire in the belly to achieve something unimaginable. It is like having self-motivation to push ahead despite stiff opposition. It is like having an extra spark.

There is need to focus on the present educational system which needs to be evolved and reinvented as per the rapid changing global scenario. More of interaction, more of role plays, more of practical activities and more of practical education can bring out the best students who can make India proud. We have youth icons like Abhinav Bindra who bagged gold medal in the individual shooting event in the recent Beijing Olympics despite constraints and without the support of the government.

There is no doubt that the youth of this country is playing a crucial role for the growth of our nation. We usually claim the future of our country lies in the hands of youth. In fact, it is the teachers who play a crucial role shaping the students by becoming their role models and by imparting right teaching and training methodologies. Therefore, on the eve of Teachers Day, let students learn good lessons and take the support of their teachers for bringing out their best by getting equipped with right tools and techniques.

A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others. ~Anon

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