Opinion | Teachers – Shaping the Destiny of Nations in Classrooms 

“As mentioned in the  Kothari Commission (1964-66) has said, “the destiny of India is being shaped in her classrooms”.

Teachers Day is celebrated as the birthday of the second President of India, Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan. The history behind this day is very interesting. It is said that one day Dr. Radha Krishna was approached by some of his friends and students, requesting him to celebrate his birthday which falls on the 5th   of September, he expressed his wish that instead of observing his birthday, it would be a great privilege if the day is celebrated as “Teachers Day”. Since then, this day has been celebrated.
Generally, on this particular day, students organize different activities۔ These activities include a singing competition, dance competition, recitation of poems, mimicry of teachers, lots of games children play with teachers, planning a picnic, offering gifts, and at last, they thank teachers by expressing their gratitude but today the situation is different, besides acknowledging the efforts of teachers and addressing their genuine issues on this particular day, one of the prime purposes of celebrating this day is to enhance a good relationship between a teacher and a student. But for the last few years, this sacred relationship has been facing several challenges- maximum involvement of materialism, Indiscipline among students, excessive use of cell phones, drug addiction etc.
The disciplinary problem among students has become one of the big challenges for education in our country nowadays. The problem becomes serious when the students lose their moral compass to discern what is right and wrong for their actions in school or out of school. It is undeniable that the problem is due to the low morality level among the students. Morality is a principle that concerns the difference between right and wrong action or good and bad behavior. Morality is important and needs to be taught in school to produce students who are balanced and harmonious in intellectual, spiritual, emotional, and physical aspects based on the National Philosophy of Education. Besides the parents who should take responsibility for building their children’s morality, the school also plays an important role as the institution that promotes moral development and transmits moral values to the students.
As an adult is the guide for the students, the teachers need to have good knowledge of the moral subject, and teaching pedagogy and they ought to be mature emotionally and able to interact with the students and communicate with the parents. Thus, they need to know more about their roles and challenges in developing students’ morality. Teachers can have a better direction to play their roles and try to solve the challenges that they face in developing students’ morality in schools.
As mentioned in the  Kothari Commission (1964-66) has said, “the destiny of India is being shaped in her classrooms. It is a common complaint expressed by our teacher community that they are not being respected or loved like their predecessors. Their claim is cent percent true. If we compare the teacher community of today with that of our seniors, we see a lot of differences both in terms of their personal and professional abilities. Those teachers deserve a lot of appreciation because they consider teaching a social and religious obligation. They were treating each student equally irrespective of their social, or religious background. If a student remained absent for a day or two, they used to approach his/her home to see the cause of his absence, provide all sorts of assistance to him/her, and extend full support in the completion of their pending classwork. They considered them as their sons and daughters.
Instead of tuition fees, they used to receive gifts from their students after the completion of their course or when they were promoted to the next class. A Few teachers in the education system are weighing this noble profession only in terms of economic gains underestimating its social, emotional, and religious aspects. They have to leave this selfish nature. Teachers have to develop etiquette which is a prerequisite for this saintly profession. The situation is not completely dismal? Still, there are teachers in the system who are following the ethics of this noble profession in a true sense. But some defamed this noble profession by their selfish deeds.
Being a teacher isn’t easy and they need to deal with a lot throughout their career. Certain features mark the difference between a commoner and a great. The case with teachers isn’t an exception either. The teachers need to be the ideals of the candidates, they must look upon them with massive respect. This “Teachers Day” provides such teachers an opportunity to introspect.

– The author is a teacher and columnist. He can be reached at minamharoon123@gmail.com