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Speeches of Alagappa Chettiar |
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EDUCATION AND THE NEW SOCIAL ORDER (Article) Few people realise the important role which a Training College has to play in the education of a nation. Unfortunately in India the recognition given is even less than in other countries. What Bernard Shaw said He who can does he who cannot teacher's reflects the opinion of the general public on matters relating to education. Possibly thisremark was made to deplore the absence of recognition on the importance of Teacher Education, If one goes 'thro' the reports of education at all levels, one can find that Teacher Education is given insignificant consideration. Schemes of expansion of education are planned without taking into account the requirements of teaching personnel. The constitution makes provision for free and compulsory education and our State Government have made education free upto the end of the middle school stage. No doubt elaborate statistics have been prepared of the number in the various age groups of boys and girls, but hardly any mention is made of the number of teachers that would be required to man the schools that would spring up. Both the public and the officials consider that any person could be entrusted with the teaching of the young. In no other profession, there is such utter disregard of professional qualification. In all ranks of the medical, engineering and legal professions, they insist on a technical qualification as a condition precedent to employment. When you want tostitch your coat, you send for the qualified tailor, when you want a driver for your car, you insist upon a qualified man for you are in fear of your life or your car but when our children are to be educated the State uses the occasion to solve the unemployment problem thinking more of the unemployed than the helpless child-- and still we preach that the children are the wealth of nation. When a child is physically ill, you try to get the best Doctor and the best medicine but with regard to its mental health, very little attention is paid. This sad state of affairs is due to the fact that education takes time to show its results but they little realise that even when the results show themselves to be bad, it will be toe ].ate to be mended. When the public complain with careless indifference and blame the education system, they should realise that they were themselves responsible for the sorry state of affairs. So any attempt to improve education should start with the teacher and of the recognition of the important role he has to play in the shaping of the future of the nation. The enthusiasm to start a school in the locality begins and ends with the pro- vision of accommodation and equipment and the teacher comes in only as an after-thought. So if education should play its proper role in the reorganisation of Society the selection and the training of teachers should assume an importance much more than what is given today. It should be obvious therefore that the Training Colleges should become the hub of the educational machinery for the progress of the nation. The Training Colleges of today stand isolated from the teaching profession. So far as collegiate education is concerned, the colleges stand on a high pedestal by themselves looking with lofty contempt and .even with hostile scorn on the training institutions. Even the members of the staff of the Training Colleges consider it as an achievement if they can get out of them to join other faculties, while the school consider the training colleges with little affection and often with hostility, because they feel they are not taken into real partnership in the shaping of the future teacher. The training colleges condescend to confer their recognition and patronage by sending their pupil trainees for the mockery of an apprenticeship while the teaching staff of the schools views the situation with subdued amusement and silent derision. What an unhappy situation! The alumni of the training college who are to join the ranks of the teachers today or tomorrow occupy the position of step children neither the training colleges taking pride inshaping them as teachers nor the profession itself taking a delight in inducting them into their ranks. It is time the authorities thought of setting aright the unfortunate situation and saved the calumny attached to the poor teacher. Apprenticeship in other professions like medicine, law, commerce etc., has meaning and a purpose; but here it is done to the annoyance of the one and the indifference of the other. Should we not pay more attention to this aspect of teacher education especially as it concerns the rising generation. In ancient India, the teacher led society. Today the Society ignores him and treats him with contempt as a wage earner and of no consequence in shaping society. If society has to improve, it can only be on the proper education of its members. The teacher is more than everybody else, a social worker and he must be given his legitimate place as a community leader in recognition of his potentialities. Instead of ignoring him, he should be given opportunities to utilise his talents. For this purpose, the teaching profession should be made sufficiently attractive to the talented section of the people. The state should take up the responsibility of giving sufficient security and peace of mind to the teacher to enable him to put forth his best effort. In the past the "Guru" was kept in such a state by the State and the Community. Today will it be impossible to bring back such a stage of affairs under he present circumstances? At the same time the teacher of today has even greater responsibilities than the "Guru" of old. He is the channel by which our heritage passes onto the rising generation. He should be the torch bearer of our culture. With the development of atomic power and the crave for material prosperity, the need for realising the spiritual values of life is greater than ever before and if the teachers in our school fail to place these ideals before the rising generation they would hardly justify their calling.
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