There was a time when teaching was considered as a very noble profession, alongside medical profession. Teachers, or Gurus, as they were known more commonly, were one of the most respected in the society. The reason being, they played a very significant role in the character building of any individual.
But not anymore.
Today teaching is no more a noble profession. Even in today’s date, we come across teachers who still consider teaching as a divine service, but they are very few in number. Most of the teachers consider it as just another profession. To a large extent, this is one of the primary reasons for the degradation of the quality I that we see every where in the society.
A little insight into this will let us know that corruption in the education system is the main reason for this. The cancerous disease called corruption is so deep rooted into the education system that today people who are least qualified also tend to become teachers. What kind of a message can we expect from a teacher who became a teacher thru corrupt means? What quality will such a teacher impart to the students?
Often we hear about teachers being appointed on payment of lakhs of rupees. So the sole criterion for appointment is the ability to pay such hefty amount. Who suffers? Those who have the educational qualification and the sincere desire to teach, but do not have the ability to cough up the required amount of money.
Here are some classic cases from one of the most prestigious Universities in our state. In the School of Behavioural Sciences under Mahatma Gandhi University (MG University) at Kottayam, some appointments seems to have been made, flouting all the norms for appointing a personnel for that post.
An Assistant Professor for Research Methodology and Statistics has a masters degree in English. The minimum qualification for the post of Assistant Professor is a masters degree in the relevant field. In that case, how can a masters in English language teach Statistics and Research Methodology?
Similarly, an Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology has not qualified the National Eligibility Test (NET) which is a minimum requirement.
In a similar fashion, an Assistant Professor does not have a Ph.D or has not qualified the National Eligibility Test (NET), which is a minimum requirement.
The appointments were done by following the due process of inviting applications, short listing of candidates, conducting personal interviews and all other due diligence process. So an impression was created that the appointments were done in a very fair and transparent manner. But the end result is here for all of us to see.
How do such people get appointed, when a large number of eligible candidates lose an opportunity to pursue their passion? The only answer is blatant corruption in the education department. It is such a sorry state of affairs, but we all are forced to face it. If things have to change, each one of us has to stand up against these unethical practices. If all like minded people come together, change is bound to happen. If not today, at least tomorrow.
