Teachers: The Building Blocks of a Nation

Teachers: The Building Blocks of a Nation

‘One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.’ - Malala Yousafzai Teacher – a word we learn and say more than our own names, but often disregarded by

society. According to a UNESCO Global Report on Teachers, the most important school-related factors affecting children are the teachers, not the textbooks. They are central to unlocking the potential of every individual and fulfilling Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) of inclusive, equitable, and quality education for all. Despite being our nation’s building blocks, they also face many struggles.

First, let’s talk about the teaching profession. Who is a teacher? That question is incorrect. Our parents are a constant in our lives, with only one name. So we can ask who one’s parents are. But a teacher isn’t a single entity. A teacher is a position—a title occupied by multiple individuals across the chapters of our lifetime. Their names don’t matter; only how they handle this title is significant. So, the question is, ‘What is a teacher?’

A teacher is a guide to our own lives in handling problems and learning how to solve them. Whatever problems we have in our schools and homes, we can tell our teachers about them, and they will help us by giving suggestions. Teachers will be struggling in their lives, but they value a student’s smile more. There was a teacher in a school in Tamil Nadu who packed a separate lunch for one pupil secretly so that others wouldn’t know about his poverty.

In reality, the teacher herself was struggling with low salaries. So a teacher’s small help would mean huge tides in our learning process. Our honourable former president, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, proposes teaching as a noble profession that shapes an individual’s character, caliber, and future. He wanted to be remembered as a good teacher and considered it his biggest honour.

Schools aren’t merely for educating children but also for modeling them. According to a study conducted by Assocham Foundation, children spend more time in schools than adults do in their work offices. A child spends around 8 hours in a school around teachers while only 5-6 hours with parents. These make a teacher’s role the primary determinant in shaping our lives. It lies in the difference between an educator and a teacher. An educator imparts knowledge from textbooks, while a teacher goes beyond them to give life lessons.

For an educator to elevate oneself to a teacher, he/she needs only one component –passion. A good teacher would teach you the essential parts of a flower. A passionate teacher would bring a flower and allow ourselves to feel its parts. Unfortunately, plenty of educators are around us, but only a couple of teachers. There was a teacher in my school who illustrated her passion for this profession. Her name was Kumari, and she taught us Malayalam subject (the native language of Kerala). She used to tell us humorous moral stories involving her as a major character. Little did we know that she was turning her own life into lessons for us. Mahatma Gandhi propounded that the true textbook for the pupil is his teacher. Mrs. Kumari was the real textbook for us.

The role of teachers in nation-building is multidimensional. The younger generation are the builders of our nation, and they spend most of their time with teachers. An excellent and passionate teaches the moral principles of kindness, empathy and benevolence. She teaches us to see and respect everyone equally but also reminds us to provide special consideration to the underprivileged. Mrs. Kumari regularly spared one latecomer student from punishment. As a class leader, I approached him and asked for the reason. He told me he couldn’t wake up early. I resented his lazy attitude and our teacher’s special treatment. Only when his mother died did we know that his mother was bedridden for a while, and he had to take care of his younger siblings before going to school. A teacher’s special treatment of an underprivileged child is a new hope for him, enabling him to break the glass ceiling. They could become the bureaucrats that form the steel frame of India. Empowering these

underprivileged children into the workforce boosts our country’s productivity and economy,

uplifting India’s image internationally. A teacher’s care can aggrandise our country’s glory

worldwide.

Another dimension is the social and political values they imbibe in the children. The value of tolerance and compassion is inculcated into their young minds when the teachers express them to their classmates. In an era of communal violence and hate speech, those values gain significance in building a nation of harmony and fraternity. Stronger individuals build stronger nations. A strong individual is only formed where free speech and thought exist. In a society fuelled by fake propaganda and stories, an individual needs to think and speak freely without fear. So when a teacher shows the principles of truth and honesty, the children  earn to think and talk freely as morally and intellectually strong persons. Love is another value that is hard to find in our smartphone-trapped society. Parents and children are prioritising internet connectivity over their hearts’ connectivity. As a result, the younger minds get corrupted by the dark world of drugs and narcotics. Teachers can help the youngsters by training them to say no to these evils. Only healthy minds can produce a healthy country. 

There is one kind of teacher who goes unrecognised and devalued in our society. They are the Physical Education (PE) teachers. Growing up in a fast-food cultured society, it’s cardinal to play games and run around the grounds, giving proper exercise to our bodies. A PE teacher offers lessons to keep a healthy body, fostering one’s potential to its maximum. Remember, nations are not built by bureaucrats and officers alone, they are built by athletes and sportspersons also.

Despite its greatness, the profession of teaching faces struggles nowadays. According to the UN Global Report on Teachers, 44 million additional teachers are needed to realize the universal primary and secondary education by 2030. This shortage is primarily due to low status and wages given to the teachers. In India also, the situation isn’t different. Teachers are seen as lower strata and aren’t provided adequate salaries while working in poor conditions. We need more investments in school infrastructure to provide a comfortable environment for teachers. Sufficient salaries and allowances needed to be provided to attract more people and incentives to avoid occupational burnout. If teachers get tired, how will children prosper?

Dr. Radhakrishnan, whose birthday is celebrated as Teacher’s Day, said, ‘True teachers are those who help us think for ourselves.’ Teachers bring out an individual’s true potential. They are the agents of change and the torchbearers of equality. To keep up with current education trends, they must upgrade themselves and impart knowledge using modern technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). They need to go beyond textbooks and look into a pupil’s heart. Standing upon the shoulders of a teacher, a child sees the world. Through that vision, a teacher transforms society, becoming the real architects of our nation.