Teachers - writing our country's future

India has one of the most complex education systems in the world. In the recently published Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+) report, India’s primary and secondary school teaching workforce is said to be nearly 9.7 million, among the largest in the world. The system has 1.5 million schools and 248 million students enrolled from Grade 1 to Grade 12. A gigantic responsibility lies on the shoulders of our teachers and as the recently released National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 states ,?‘Teachers truly shape the future of our children – and, therefore, the future of our nation’.

Our huge population with diverse ethnic and religious beliefs makes the entire system very difficult to implement and sustain. With the covid pandemic, things have taken a great turn in the education space and will have alarming results in years to come, if not taken seriously and mended rightly – both from the perspective of the student as well as the teacher. Low capacity in digital and e-learning skills of the teachers and screen indifference and inattention of students has been a big challenge. Poor systemic support in terms of digital tools (mobile phones, laptops, reliable internet connectivity etc.) has impacted the teaching process. A BCG study highlights that 80% teachers expressed impossibility of maintaining emotional connect. Learning loss of students needs to be addressed which would require gigantic efforts. Mental health of the teachers, amidst all this stress and their own personal problems, is at risk.

I have had the good fortune of working with teachers one-on-one during the pandemic and got to know the stark realities on the ground. Teachers have been the real Covid heroes/warriors, however, these super heroes need support today – to sustain the heavy responsibility on their shoulders of educating the child as well as dealing with the post-pandemic issues, and some of them are highlighted below:

·??????The Rapid assessment of learning report of UNICEF highlights the learning loss of the students during the covid pandemic, most students (80 per cent) are perceived to be learning less or significantly less and 65 per cent of students are perceived to somewhat or significantly lagging behind in their overall progress. Teachers will need to be engaged in extra remedial classes to provide additional support to the students. Social skills, physical fitness, and career readiness are other areas where students need support. In light of this, the job role of the teachers needs to be reassessed and responsibilities assigned pragmatically.

·??????Amidst all the stress and pressure to deliver, their holistic well being should be taken care of. Work-time flexibility, additional leaves, and recognition is much needed. Extended work from facilities was provided. The post pandemic world demands a strong recognition program for the teachers so that they feel valued and respected. If we wish to have happy teachers for our children who make learning joyful and engaging, their mental and emotional well being should be given priority.

·??????Upskilling teachers is the need of the hour as it is imperative for improving learning outcomes. There are?14,000?teacher training institutes in India but less than?12 percent?of teachers successfully complete the national qualification exam. With nearly one in six elementary school teachers?not professionally trained, India must improve its spending on teacher training--just 2% of the 2018-19 budget allocated for Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (‘holistic education programme’) was spent on teachers’ training institutes. Educational institutions should spend time and money on building teacher’s skills with respect to their content knowledge, conceptual understanding and methods of making learning engaging.

·??????ICT training for teachers is of utmost importance, especially post COVID-19 pandemic The professional development plan of teachers should include strengthening the competence in ICT to support and promote active learning. Much of their success in near future will lie in using ICT in classes and integrate technology for effective learning.

·??????Mental Health of students is a big issue that has taken birth in the post pandemic world. Children today are anxious, scared and fearful of future with many getting suicidal tendencies. And while the parents are doing their bit, I strongly feel that it’s the teachers with whom our kids are the most connected, they look up to them and their influence might bring a big impact on their mental health. For that, we need to train our teachers on how to address mental health issues of students, and equip them with counselling skills and well-being resources focusing on common anxieties and redressal mechanisms. They should be trained on how sensitively teaching needs to be carried and the support that needs to be provided to the students.

With the increased influence of edtech, the need of the hour is to glorify the teaching space and attract more talent. Teaching should not be looked as a profession wherein only house wives or people with no other job come in, but it should be marketed well to attract talented professionals. The teacher workforce has been a neglected lot but today post pandemic, it is very crucial that we bring this workforce into the spotlight, develop and engage them so that they provide us the leaders of tomorrow!

And as it is rightly said, when teachers take a step forward, society moves a thousand steps ahead.