All best teachers deserve national level awards ;
All national awardees may not be the best teachers.
Bhat Hilal Ahmad
It was for the first time in the history of independent India when National Teachers Day was celebrated way back in 1962 to commemorate Dr. Sarvipalli Radhakrishnan on his 77th birth anniversary who preffered celebrating teachers day over his birthday anniversary , having a firm belief that teachers should be the best minds in the country.This underscores the very idea behind the celebration.The idea to identify , acknowledge , honour and appreciate the professional conduct and the pivotal role a teacher plays in shaping young minds and society.The event unequivocally manifestated that it was not merely a celebration but the introduction and plantation of an idea to be nurtured , cultivated and upholded by and for the generations to come , given that teachers have a ubiquitous influence on the society.However , with the rapid advancement in science and technology especially in the last one and a half decade which saw a bloom of information technology , the benchmark of an ideal teacher drastically shifted with an expansion further and beyond its routine boundaries taking a more composed , multidisciplinary , multifaceted and a multidimensional form.As such , the qualities , components and parameters of an ideal teacher have exponentially and competently become more dynamic than ever.Therefore , teaching is no longer confined to classroom transactions.It has become vibrantly inclusive , accomodative and challenging whereby a teacher is exposed to most applied and technologically challenging world.Consequently the domain of teacher and the ambit of education has entirely changed and so are the demands of learning objectives and outcomes.As a result education has become holistically robustic and teaching is no longer identified with the classroom activities , instead it has made a steep departure from that Copy-Board concept of teaching learning and the role of a teacher is increasingly identified with leadership skills in innovation and technology in every sphere of life.This is in turn getting revealed in National Education Policy 2020 which aligns us with World Economic Form and the modern world that demands excellence in creativity , innovation , critical analysis , problem solving and higher order thinking skills.
Given the heterogeneity and diversity in educational landscape especially in working environments of a teacher ranging from primary to higher secondary , the skill and efficiency of a teacher remains totally incomparable both interms of infrastructure , learners , learning objectives and goals.In such a situation and senario which looks haphazard and out of the pattern , it is equally challenging to screen out best teachers out of hundreds and thousands by applying any particular or a generalised criteria or for that matter measuring the performance of teachers by using yardsticks based on conventional parameters.Infact no single criteria is sufficient to squeeze out the best bunch of teachers unless it is exceptionally outstanding or innovatively excellent.
Teachers day should be seen from a broader perspective.Organisation of award ceremonies is just an intervention of teachers day.Infact awards and award ceremonies do not define teachers day.Although it is mandatory and encouraging to appreciate the best ones but it must strike a balance and awards must not confine the scope of a teacher nor should it draw a final line for being or not being a best teacher.Infact receiving an award in itself is not a climax of being the best , instead it is a ticket to strive for being the best.Moreover , being best in itself is a process and not an occasion.Therefore not being picked up for the award is never a disqualification for being the best teacher.Indeed best teacher remains best irrespective of being or not being chosen for the award.So it is evidently imperative to celebrate the entire idea behind the teachers day and not merely the awards what has been seen trending the steal the show and dominating the day.That will definitely make the day affirmatively inclusive and will generate positive vibes among the teachers.Celebration of idea will also infuse motivation and a sence of belongingness for every student and teacher to become an active part of teachers day celebrations.
As of now winning of an award is neither purely qualifying nor purely meritorious in nature.It more or less follows a method of sampled randomisation.Besides , it perhaps lacks the kind of precision and accuracy needed to screen out the best amongst all.All over India arround 4.88 million government teachers are working in education department and a sizable number of them are working out of their skin and giving their best to the society.But every year only some 45 teachers are selected for national awards.Fair enough that is what awards are all about.But then It never means that rest of the teachers are not good or for that matter they are not rendering their services to the best of their potential or that they are not matching the standards to qualify for such awards.Infact there are hundreds of teachers who have done wonders but have not been at any point of time considered for such awards.It should not be an overstatement to say that a good number of teachers across the country have even done better than many of those who have been nominated for awards from time to time.Therefore , no teacher should feel discouraged just because he/she is not nominated for an award.Further , there should be a hunt for identifying best teachers rather than aspirants seeking and approaching for it.Point is that many teachers who have not been awarded at any point of time deserved it too.So the bottom line is that awards must not distract us from celebrating teachers day and every teacher should feel that teachers day belongs to him or her.All the students and all the teachers must participate in celebrating the very idea behind the teachers day and in doing so awards and award ceremonies should not come in its way.It is only when the idea gets celebrated that teachers day will serve its real purpose.Be the Awards for a few but celebrations for all.
Bhat Hilal Ahmad ( Biotech ) is an educationist.He is a writer and a columnist who writes on issues related to education , social and political development.
