Seminars to brainstorm students’ issues are frequently held, but what of those who are running the institutes? Are they just passive spectators, or do they have issues to tell?

Schools today are not what they used to be in the 1980s, and the changes that have taken place since are mixed with ups and downs, perhaps more downs than ups, according to principals at the DHiE Principals’ Seminar on Saturday.

 “Recently, there was a huge uproar about whether punishment to students should be banned. Either way the pressure builds up on teachers,” said Mrs E A Shiny, Principal of Madonna School.

 “Parents these days are busy with their own career, and they shove their kids to us expecting to take care of everything. But learning starts from home and parents have forgotten that,” she said.

Many of the principals blamed parents for not providing a much needed guidance at home to kids before they come to school. “Parents must set good examples because kids usually ape them,” said Mrs Vatsala Rajamani, Principal of New Horizon Public School.

The principals also arrived at a conclusion that handling teachers is just as hard as handling students. According to Mrs Usha Mohan of IIS, it is under very rare cases that principals give warning memos to teachers now. “You can’t afford to lose a teacher to another school in this competition,” she said.

“I provide facilities to them so that over and above their salary, they get something extra to stick with us,” she said.

But whatever be the goals in the profession of teaching – which never ends – infrastructure, money and air-conditioned rooms will not attract talent in the long run, Mr Cyril Harrison of VS said.

“Without passion for teaching, you’re simply a clerk,” he added.