By Karthik Ganesh:
Education is heralded as the chief defence of the nation. The pursuit of true knowledge via the walks of education holds our passport to the future as tomorrow necessarily belongs to the person who prepares for it today. The essence of education introduces a person to different patterns of thought which is dutifully channelized by those who awaken us, who with their onerousness ensure that we are honed into a human resource for the society. They double up as a friend, parent, adviser and philosopher to ensure that the students scale unimaginable heights in their different walks of life. This scrupulous demigod is none other than the epitome of selflessness: Teacher.
In order to illuminate the lives of the people living in the rural area the Government has chartered out many education targeted programs like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid-day meal scheme and even established a Right to Education act. On first thought, we are so tempted to stand up and hail the mighty Government and give them a standing ovation for their efforts. But the ground realities definitely deny us from doing this defamatory act.
The scariest part of this man-made calamity of ignorance is the gradual acceptance of the fact that the children in rural setting have minimal access to a quality teacher. The dearth of quality teachers has a deepening impact on the personalities of these children which automatically paves the way for them to indulge in derogatory anti-social elements. Lack of access of quality education due to non-availability of teachers not only ensures the loss of faith in the understanding of the perks of education but rather gives them a ground for their parents to push poor children into child labour. This despicable inter-linkage of ignorance and social ills will definitely destroy the quality of life in our nation and would probably push us to a system of unstable governance by inane human resources.
The desperate need of the hour is to ensure the active implementation of the various policies in education chartered out by our Government, the availability of quality teachers at Government schools and the involvement of NGO’s in the sphere of education. We must also try and understand the essence of education and the importance of having access to a quality teacher which would ensure that we as a nation are empowered and enlightened in the days to come.
P.S.: This article is a small tribute to all the teachers who have shaped and mentored me throughout my life with the most important teacher being my mother.