It is truly said, “The
root of education is bitter but its fruit is sweet.” This saying is commonly
used by young students in their compositions with perhaps little or inadequate
understanding of its meaning. The root of education, to me, is the foundation
that the teacher lays in the learner. This foundation-laying is not an easy
task. It means a lot of effort and unlimited patience but the sight of the learners’
learning things that s/he teaches gives immense pleasure or satisfaction. This
contentment is what I call the ‘fruit’ which is sweet – in fact, much sweeter
than any sweet in the world.
Our education system has
come up with drastic changes from the time of our forefathers till now in terms
of the quality of imparting lessons to
students, qualification of teachers, usage of teaching learning materials and
teaching strategies being used etc…The changes have taken their positive
development in the education system. However, I feel that there is some
difference in the attitude of learners of today from that of those in past. One
should consider education their top priority in the technical and competitive world
where everything advances so fast. But, do the majority of present learners
have that priority?
When I recollect my
days as a student, I remember the sufferings and the hardships of my parents to
educate us. We were frequently reminded of the reward of working hard, the importance
of education, value of money and host of lot. But nowadays, how far the present
generation of students understands all those things? In stead, they want
whatever they see in the shops; they want expensive mobile phones and want to
enjoy the luxuries of life and will be happy if their parents drive them to
schools in cars instead of scooters. Many different faces show up to us in the
schools yearly but we rarely come across children who believe in working hard
and who understand the struggles of parents etc... In my service so far, I have
come across students with different abilities from which I too learn many
things.
As a student once, I
always felt that teaching was an easy task demanding little work; that teaching
is where the teacher just taught what is there in the text book. But now, in
the shoes of a teacher, I know the challenges, the enjoyment and courage
required to face challenging situations provoked by the students. I had once dreamt
of being teacher and I could clearly remember me as a senior student all the
time volunteering as a substitute teacher in the primary classes when our
teachers had meetings. What I used to do was conduct spelling tests whether I
knew spelling myself much or not, give ‘star’ to the highest scorer and
sometimes let boys and girls compete in singing and so on. I was thrilled to
see the smile and excitement on those faces and I too enjoyed. I never knew of
other works the teachers do besides teaching. But now I understand and know
about those extra miles that teachers take for the sake of their students and
schools.
If I compare our
profession with other professions, I feel we don’t have ‘off hours’ whereas
other civil servants often do enjoy that. I don’t mean that other professions are
easy tasks; nor do I mean that I do not enjoy my profession. The gist is that
other professions are quite light compared with teaching. Non- teaching professions
are time-bound – within office hours. But teachers bring their office home.
I have served my first years of teaching year
in Dorokha MSS and now in Thinleygang PS, both of which are boarding schools.
Having to look after the children right from 6AM till 6 PM (for some, beyond that)
lets our own biological children feel neglected sometimes. For that reason,
some teacher-mothers need to keep their toddlers after maternity away from them
just to fulfill their responsibility. I am also one such mother-teacher. Do
other professionals need to do such sacrifices? However, all such challenges
make me more determined, stronger in life- putting more effort to balance our
professional, social and personal life. Especially a lady teacher in our social
set-up needs to play many roles (role of a mother, a teacher, a housewife, a
daughter and a friend, etc..). Every role has to be played well and if any role
fails then things get messed up.
A teacher is said to be
a Guru but that Guru has no freedom even to laugh out openly, cannot show
sadness she/he has inside, cannot dress the way he/she likes and etc… because
tiny, affectionate and learning eyes are watching the Guru and ‘YOU’ is a role
model. Actually, I feel I am pretending to be what actually I am not but now
this has become part of me and I am used to be what I am not. Sometimes, I
really miss those golden school days where my work was just to listen to what
teacher taught and write what we knew and besides help my family and enjoy life
with friends. But these pleasant things in life students of today do not
understand and they often waste their time by indulging themselves in unwanted
stuffs. At night, everybody goes to bed expecting good sleep and beautiful
dreams but a teacher goes with a reflection of how things went or what to do to
help a weak child or a disruptive student.
Life is not as simple
as we feel but is a mixture of fun, challenges and sorrows, etc…But still I feel
that the teaching profession is an enviable one and it has really taught me a
lot. It has always shaped me into what I was not and helped me to be a better
person. This profession gives me ample opportunities to grow and enrich me with
experiences to face any new challenging situations that I had, I have and I
will confront hereafter.
