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At the crossroads

With IT and corporate jobs ruling the roost, there are few takers for teaching as a career

LOVE LOST FOR TEACHING? Youngsters are not inspired to take up teaching given the poor pay and lack of role models Photo: K.R. DEEPAK

For long it was tagged a `noble profession'. Once a sought-after vocation and a passport to respectability, teaching as a career option is now at the crossroads.

The remuneration factor, mushrooming self-financing institutions and seemingly greener pastures elsewhere have made talented youth think twice before taking up teaching as a career.

"Teaching is no more a favoured career option among youngsters," says 27-year-old Vardan Kabra, an IIM-A graduate and director of the Fountainhead School in Surat. Anna Mookken, a 27-year-old teacher of language skills, says: "I wonder if a job is done anymore for respectability and a sense of self-worth. If you can get a whopping starting salary in the IT industry, why would anyone struggle with lesson plans for a quarter of that amount?" Leelavathy Sekar, Director, Centre for Women's Studies, Avinashilingam University was in for a surprise when she conducted an impromptu survey among school children. "Most high school students wanted to be computer engineers. At the elementary level, the votes were for doctors, IAS officers and, even the police," she says. "Hardly a handful wanted to be teachers and some said they would not earn enough in this profession."

Poor remuneration

For those who have been associated with Indian education for long, this comes as no surprise. "Compared to the corporate sector, in terms of salary and perks, teachers are bound to feel let down," says A.K. Sharma, former director of NCERT. "Earlier, teaching was taken up by people who were passionate about it or by those who liked the company of the young; now most are in it out of compulsion or by accident," says P.E. Thomas, lecturer in communication at PSG College of Arts and Science.

The security of a permanent teaching job still ensures a steady demand for the B. Ed courses. But it is the motivation and inclination that are in question. "Teaching does not motivate youngsters, because there were no role models to inspire them in their student years," says Sharma.

Thomas says: "They are bogged down by clerical jobs which limits their interaction outside classrooms." Kabra, who is trying out innovative methods of teaching, believes it is time teaching broke free from the shackles of being a "noble profession."

"The remuneration must keep pace with the times," says Kabra.

He does not shy away from calling it the education industry and emphasises the need to adopt a professional approach and, maybe, corporatise it. While agreeing on the need to revamp, Sharma says, "The present teacher training programmes have absolutely no inspirational content and are merely a licence for appointment."

According to him, strict norms and standards should be in place when it comes to private initiatives to ensure quality education and faculty competence.

For Sanjyot Apte, lecturer of Political Science, SP College, Pune, teaching is more about motivation than professionalism. "To generate interest among students within a typical framework is a challenge," says Dr. Apte. She believes in the social responsibility of the teacher and asserts the need for teaching to be a dialogue. "Out of the 60 students in my class, if three to four are motivated to take up teaching, that is a battle won. There will be a point where it is just not about money, but your satisfaction," she hopes.

Sharma says the need is to talk to youngsters and create in them a sense of pride about teaching. "There are two aspects to teacher training. You prepare a teacher to teach subjects. And you prepare a teacher per se, with a whole set of skills and an intrinsic culture." But the bottom line, the veterans say, is a love for teaching. "An e-class or a virtual class may be a reality soon, but there is no replacement for a real teacher," says Dr Apte.

There seem to be quite a few idealistic youngsters too. "I am here as I believe I can mould a generation," says 28-year-old Rosemary Abraham, a college lecturer.

"I just think it's a very rewarding career, not materially of course," says Anna. "The bottom line is that only those who truly see it as a vocation choose to do it and I suppose the numbers are fast diminishing," she concludes.

ANIMA BALAKRISHNAN

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