TEACHERS' TRAUMA

 

A continuous tug of war between thoughts regarding quitting the teaching profession by the teachers to find better pay and satisfaction needs serious contemplation from society.

The novel coronavirus escalated into a global pandemic, forcing an abrupt and nearly universal shift to distance learning; stress, depression, frustration, and humiliation has fallen so heavily on the teaching fraternity that the good teachers find it strenuous to survive.

The modern education system has tremendously changed the role of a teacher. Facilitator and Educator are the new synonyms for the teacher, which has diminished the actual value of a teacher and its contribution to shaping the future citizens of the society.

Teaching and learning are not mechanical. Instead, it is a transfer of knowledge, values, and life lessons possible with the connection. This connection is a bond of affection that strengthens with time and is nurtured with love.

The responsibility of a teacher is multidimensional and diverse. It is way beyond giving maths and science lessons in the four walls. They are counsellors to troubled students, surrogate parents checking if children eat, security guards breaking up fights, and at times funders of the most basic of classroom supplies from their own shallow pockets.

A tide of good, hardworking, and caring teachers leaving signals to quit needs pondering. Society must understand that it is the conviction of the people choosing this profession. They should not be humiliated by raising questions about their integrity and credibility.

Teachers ought not to be considered “bargaining chips” in the drive to poke parents and get the economy going. Teachers and the teaching profession were already facing a lack of respect on the job; now, it has been multi-folded with the advent of the pandemic.

Teachers: the storehouse of knowledge struggle to deliver their experience to the students with technology tools. Students behind the screens are not accessible and approachable. Talking to screens has become challenging as the teachers can only hear their voices echoing.  

The struggle becomes further traumatic and torturous for the teachers when the stakeholders keep their credibility at stake.

Society and the institutions must comprehend that there are categories of teachers, too, though they haven’t been defined yet. All cannot be measured with the same yardstick.

Let the deserving be respected and rewarded.