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| Society at large is responsible for making teaching and education the way it is today | | Mercenary teachers | | Sajjad Bazaz
Some time back I found one of my colleagues locking horns with a 'gentleman'. On enquiring about the cause of confrontation, I found that the 'gentleman' was running a coaching centre and had 'cheated' my colleague on account of failing to provide quality coaching to his 15-year-old son. The 'gentleman' was refusing to pay back the fee. My colleague has now filed a complaint under the J&K Consumer Protection Act of 1987, against him, which is pending for final disposal. Over a period of time, we have witnessed a mushroom growth of teaching shops in the name of providing quality coaching to students. A swarm of students could be seen on roads, streets, lanes and by lanes in the wee hours and during the evening time pursuing their studies in these teaching shops run by mercenary teachers.
Of course, there are also teachers without that mercenary attitude. They do it out of a sheer passion for teaching and helping students in difficulty. But the percentage of these passionate teachers is shrinking fast; almost invisible now.
Before proceeding ahead, let me clear it that I am far from being an expert on the subject. But I have had some close personal experiences in the teaching sector which prompts me to share them with the readers.
I remember my school days when some teachers were forced by the students into the profession of giving private tuitions. You may be wondering, how it used to happen? One or two students would approach a teacher for some extra help in studies. Most of the teachers, when approached, would not refuse. During this process some other students who needed help would join them. Over a period of time, a group of students would assemble at the residence of the teachers for taking private tuitions.
Here teacher's call over the number of students to be managed was important. Most of them would limit the group to strength of 10 to 15 students. This restriction was imposed to maintain the quality of teaching. Of course, there were also teachers who had a class of 40 students in their private tuition garages.
Yes, there were teachers, who would subtly remind the students that they have to cough up the tuition fees. However, there were also those teachers, who would not charge even a penny to a student who could not afford the fees. Most of the teachers were very committed to their profession whereby the fees will not give them the same satisfaction as seeing a less than fortunate student succeed.
So, private tuitions have existed as the norm some 20-30 years back when we were in schools and colleges in eighties. Over a period of time, I observed it assuming a commercial significance where most of the 'teachers' have turned out as mercenaries. Today these teaching shops running without any regulation have become lucrative business centres for them. Why students go for private tuitions? There are various categories of parents who push their wards into a private tuition garage. Working timings of the some parents force them to send their kids to private tuitions after school. There are students who go for private tuitions because their friends are doing so. Then there are those who do not want to miss out on any opportunity. Despite no need to have private tuitions, they still go for it in case they find their classmate getting something that they won't get. Of course, there are students who genuinely need to go for private tuitions to get help. For example, some are weak in Mathematics. Without help, they may be left behind. At private tuition centre they can get special attention.
Today, private tuitions have taken new dimensions. Interestingly, a teaching shop requires very little capital -just enough to pay the rent of a room and the salary of a couple of so-called faculty members.
Teaching community capitalised on the opportunity and has turned private tuitions into a big business. It's now a goldmine for these 'mercenary' teachers. In most of such tuition garages, not all teachers are experts at their subjects. The infrastructure in terms of quality teachers is poor. You will find fresh graduates or post graduates with no experience at their back joining as teachers at these coaching centres more than that, the tuition centre is a transit camp for them, as they wait for a job and leave as soon as they find something better to do. So commitment of these 'teachers' is questionable.
To capitalise on the urge of parents and students towards private tuitions, new players from outside the state with large financial outlays too have joined this unregulated teaching shop industry now. They have been luring the people by showcasing success stories. For this, they incur heavy amount on advertising. Interestingly, the cost of advertising is loaded in the fee structure of students. The latest trend is to conduct college festivals.
With no checks in place, unbridled growth of these teaching shops has an adverse impact on the quality of education.In succinct, the emergence of mercenary teaching community has made education a mere stepping stone towards a materialistic life. Whatever focus of these tuition garages, it's on completing the syllabi and not the overall knowledge development skills of students. However, we cannot blame teaching community alone, but our society at large has contributed and is still contributing in making teaching and education the way it is today.
(The views are of the author & not the institution he works for.) |
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