‘What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet,’ said Juliet in Shakespeare’s famous play.
More often than not power wins recognition, leaving the powerless invisible in plain sight despite their supreme services and sacrifices. Victory of the few does make headlines. But that success and glory comes on the back of dedication and commitment of many.
When a cricketer gets the woman/ man of the match award, it is the selfless support and cooperation of the other players that earns the cricketer the award. The award-winner is hailed for his/her achievement, but no mention is made of the players without whom the award would have been impossible.
September 5, the “Teachers ‘ day” of the country saw plenty of teachers taking awards at the district, provincial and national level. This is an achievement to feel proud of. It is a known fact that teachers face hundreds of challenges but remain the last in taking credit. The recipients are supposed to have done fine to bag the awards.
Sadly, there is a growing tendency to see everything through the lens of negativity, and negligence in talking about the achievements. This attitude hits the individual morale and holds back the zeal needed for promoting excellence in work. The awardees in question have triggered a discussion among teachers. While many see these award-winning teachers as an inspiration for them, many other teachers are curious to know why they have missed out.
One such curious educator notes that he was recruited for the elementary education. But purely due to his excellent teaching and expert subject knowledge, he was asked to work at the high and higher secondary level — during the winter tutorials and during normal school days. At the higher secondary, he did a lecturer’s task for many years in a row — he taught at the plus two level. ‘While a lecturer for the same task received higher salary, I just received a teacher’s salary after three/ five months because of the then SSA salary provision’, murmured the teacher.
He further said that neither his winter tutorial service has been entertained as of now nor is he certain that his succesful term at the higher secondary school shall be recognized. “If I have worked so sincerely and honestly at the winter tutorials and secondary level, what else is the requirement to qualify for the teachers ‘ award if teaching is to be awarded, “the elementary teacher wondered.
Remarkably, there are many fantastic teachers with a wealth of subject knowledge. Plus, such teachers breathe only for the betterment of their students. Notably, their excellent performance remains confined to schools where their integrity and law abiding sense prevents them from making social media videos of their classroom presentations.
In a classroom, a teacher is a leader and parent. However, he/she cannot do justice to this role separately. It is through joint work, the teacher often finds that many others are facing the same situation. To deal with the challenges, continuous cooperation and teamwork (among teachers) are the key. This develops a positive climate for teachers and students alike.
It is not exaggeration that the recent September 5 awarding events have become, I repeat, a source inspiration for most teachers. This is likely to infuse a spirit of competition among teachers in quest for a future award. And hopefully in this contest, students should not be at the receiving end; nor should learning become a causality.
But the academic achievement of learners must be at the centre stage. The race for winning a teacher’s award is, it is feared, bound to dominate the climate at schools; this scenario is likely to push academics to the background only to negatively impact the image of the schools. Therefore, while working for the other aspects of schools is paramount for teachers, everything should revolve round the academic achievement of students.
For the recent Teachers ‘day award winners, they have a special reason to celebrate: their expected good academic performance has been well recognized and appreciated by the authorities. But this success and triumph should not take the awardees away from their academic activities —their primary duty — and encourage them to just focus on winning more awards for themselves.
To perform better in all respects, schools largely need cooperation, not award-winning competition among teachers. Private school teachers, though not awarded, work in cooperation and their results are bright.
(The Author is a teacher by profession and RK Columnist. He can be reached on: [email protected])
