JOIN USDo you want a corruption-free and ethic-based education? Shun all the mal-practices within the system and stop commercialization of the same, advocates Prakasha GS
The teaching community in the country suffers from a drastic decline in ethics. This is evident from the string of sexual abuses that appear to be on the upswing in schools and colleges across the country, wherein teachers are perpetrators and students the victims.
In April, a Block Education Officer allegedly abused a minor girl at Mysore. Exactly a month before this a school teacher raped a 14-year old girl in Rajasthan. Ajay Rai President of the Abhibhavak Manch, Ranchi in Jharkhand stated that over the last two years 15 cases of teachers assaulting students have been registered around the country.
Two months ago, the Syndicate Committee of Bangalore University shut down 71 B Ed colleges which existed only on paper and not in reality. They were ‘ghost’ colleges only in name with fictitious records and documentation in the form of students’ admission register, attendance registers, assignment records and the like.
While those teacher education institutes had students, they lacked teachers. There was absolutely no form of class room instruction and the students after registration with those ‘ghost’ colleges only appeared for examinations. Those hapless students congregated from different colleges at a common centre to write their exams. When the Chief Superintendent of the exam centre, asked the students about the location of their college and the principal’s name, they were completely unaware of where or who.
Clearly, teacher-education colleges, which are instrumental in training teachers, have a special responsibility in terms of inculcation of values like integrity and honesty among future teachers. But considering that dishonesty and lack of ethics characterises the initiation of teachers into the profession, it is unrealistic for them to promote correct values in the future.
Teaching was earlier considered a noble profession because it was associated with dissemination of knowledge towards nation building. However, the profession no longer enjoys the same status in society because the approach to education has undergone a paradigm shift. Today, people tend to perceive educational enterprises purely in commercial terms rather than platforms to impart knowledge with accompanying values. Schools and colleges are known to collect donations unabashedly towards admitting students owing to the distorted demand-supply situation, wherein many candidates pursue limited number of seats in educational institutions.
To that extent, there are no entry barriers and even semi-literates are inclined to open schools and colleges all over the country. Also political patronage has emerged as a major factor to support these educational empires which are often managed by politicians themselves. Politicians pursue profit at the cost of quality education and inculcation of proper values.
The absence of ethics in politics, administration, sports or business has its roots in the education system, which fails to make students imbibe ethical values. To that extent, schools and colleges across the country have to review their methodology of teaching / learning which only emphasises rote learning rather than critical thinking.
Values can be inculcated in young minds at schools by introducing value modules which may include areas like respect, responsibility, resilience, integrity, care and harmony. Teachers have to be trained to meticulously observe misconduct and correct them mildly in order to make students understand its importance. Students at schools can be trained in these key areas just through correction in their daily course consistently by teachers.
But for all these, first and foremost, teaching community and the educational set-up as such have to be free of unethical and uncalled behaviours and deals.
(The writer is an Assistant Professor at the School of Education, Christ University, Bangalore.)