Today, While invigilating for teacher’s eligibility test, various thoughts came unbidden to my mind. All were disturbing, and needed introspection. To begin with, I was all against such arm twisting methods adopted for teachers, hanging the increment and promotion sword above their heads. They always appeared victims to me of a system geared to run them down. Though my feelings remain unchanged, but I felt the need to do a rethink.
The quality of the candidates I encountered, left me non- plussed. They were a motley, pathetic crowd, incapable of understanding even the most basic instructions. The concept of a OMR sheet was alien to them, leave alone the method of transferring the answers. They evoked immense pity and sorrow, as we are going to entrust our kids to them.
I began with the premise, that all were at least graduates, either working or in the reckoning and hence would be capable of sailing through this test. I was gravely mistaken, they needed crutches, and were barely able to understand their subject options or the system. Nobody has ever guided our youth to apply anything they have ever ingested. They have always swallowed vomited at the right times. The knowledge bank was zero.
Instead of a confident, well read and well spoken crowd, we were faced with an under confident, shaky and strangely apathetic group. They were a commentary on our state of affairs vis-a-vis education. The desire to run them down is strong, but we need to introspect at whose door we should lay the blame?
The candidates are well qualified to teach equipped with graduation degrees and armed with valid certificates. Who has issued these degrees? The culprit is our universities with poor standards and malpractices. Education and edification is last on their priority. It’s our indifferent, egoistic, myopic and self-centered govt. They play with the lives of the youth as well as kids who are yet to be moulded.
The short-changed youth will be justified in taking the govt. to court and question them regarding their state. Their poor knowledge base is not an aberration but the norm. I hung my head in shame at our imminent future. We are in the process of churning out unlettered graduates. Poor economics had forced lakhs to opt for this test with a sense of deja vu. They expected to fail irrespective of what they did. They would bide their time when they would be able to either cheat or procure this certificate by means fair or foul.
The Teacher training council need not gloat about the toughness of the test or revel at the pass % which hovers around 3%. Rather it’s a warning bell that our country was incapable of generating less than 3% graduates who were competent enough to teach. This is only the primary level, I would not even hazard a guess regarding our state at senior level.
My heart goes out to all these youths who have been shunted out with degrees sans knowledge. They are our hope and we have killed them. Our toddlers need better mentors to guide them through life and our nation deserves better.
CBSE, who was the executor of this test did not fail to disappoint, ill-equipped,poorly informed and shoddy in its management.
God bless India
meera unplugged
meerabhardwaj28 