Bridging Childhood Dreams and Adult Realities in India's Education System

“Everyone please keep quiet, and pay attention to the class as we will be learning about the human digestive system today.” The sentence was often followed by the giggling of two girls who were reenacting their classroom scenario. Kids often love copying their teachers and playing the well-known game of "teacher-student" with great enthusiasm but as they age, these idols lose their charm. The contrast between this play in childhood and adult job goals begs a crucial question: 

Why do so many Indian students choose not to pursue teaching as a career, even when it seems like a good fit?

This blog investigates the elements that contributed to this shift, examining public opinion, economic realities, and structural analysis of the strongly ingrained beliefs that lead to individuals not pursuing teaching as a career. 

Challenges in Modern Teaching: The Evolving Landscape and Its Impact on Aspiring Educators

A teacher serves as a beacon of the information, guidance, and nurturing that children inherently respect and cherish. Children are surrounded by teachers during their young and impressionable periods, significantly influencing their lives, and piquing their interest in teaching even more. During their childhood, students spend an average of 19,320 hours a year—about one-fourth of their lives in school, or roughly 6-7 hours every day, making each student’s personality greatly influenced by their mentor.

In India, teachers were regarded as gurus and were highly respected members of society. The guru-shishya (teacher-student) tradition, during earlier times, involved students living in communal settings with their professors to receive a holistic education that included moral and spiritual guidance, which was a fundamental element of the educational system then. From that, teaching in the present times has come to be seen as a challenging and unappreciated profession. Instructors frequently struggle with a wide range of problems that affect their morale and job satisfaction.

Teachers also experience a great deal of stress related to class allocation. Many find it difficult to get the topics and subjects they are best qualified to teach or are most passionate about. Frustration and a feeling of being underappreciated might result from this mismatch between one's area of competence and the duties that have been assigned, along with a constant struggle to keep the classroom under control. It can be challenging for teachers to create a supportive learning environment where all students can succeed in light of greater class numbers and a diversity of student needs. This may have an impact on relationships between teachers and students as well as the general environment in the classroom and the quality of education.

Apart from this classroom struggle, the teaching profession offers fewer prospects than other occupations. For example, a primary teacher will never be able to advance to higher levels even after 12–13 years of experience because it is assumed that they can only teach lower sections. Alongside that, it also appears to be less stimulating and fulfilling in the long run. Approximately 1.1 lakh schools in India are one-teacher establishments, according to UNESCO's 2021 State of the Education Report for India ‘No Teachers, No Class.’ Roughly 300,000 public school teachers and other related employees departed the education sector between February 2020 and May 2022, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The load of responsibilities is increased by the pressure to finish the curriculum within the allotted time. Teachers are usually expected to cover a large amount of curriculum material, frequently at the price of more in-depth instruction and active student participation. This pressure to achieve academic goals quickly can hinder children's overall development and can lead to a stressful environment that affects both teachers and pupils.

In private school settings, teachers are under more pressure than those in public schools. In addition to creating detailed lesson plans and reporting for the week, month, and year, they also have to submit daily plans to the principal, which leads to uncomfortable situations, ultimately causing an imbalance between work and life, especially for female teachers who also have domestic and child-rearing duties.

One factor that may contribute to the belief that teaching is a less respected or desirable profession is its lower pay. Compared to specialists in other industries requiring comparable levels of education and responsibility, teachers receive lower pay. Teachers in private schools receive 40% less money than those in public schools. Their increased workload, longer workdays, and reduced family time are all factors that contribute to their discontent. In the United States, the average compensation for a primary teacher is $23.44 per hour, or $48,750 per year whereas the average primary teacher salary in India is only between $3,000 and $5,000.

Along with this in India, the teacher-to-student ratio is not good enough. The student-teacher ratio varies among India's states and regions, using the UDISEPlus 2021–22 data. The PTR is, on average, 26:1 for primary, 19:1 for upper primary, 17:1 for secondary, and 27:1 for higher secondary at the All India Level. Private schools, on the other hand, disregard these requirements and make teachers teach classes of 40–45 kids, which leads to chaos, along with the constant pressure to complete daily tasks.

Teachers frequently labor in inflexible, bureaucratic educational systems, which can stifle their creativity and independence. This can be annoying and hurt the profession's appeal. Although exceptional teachers do receive honors and recognition for their contributions, they are not many in number.  They also often face significant pressure during Parent-Teacher Meetings (PTMs), where parents assess their performance based on their children's academic results. If students are not performing well, parents may criticize teachers and demand more attention from their children. Moreover, students sometimes disrespect teachers, especially in front of their parents, disregarding their authority and viewing school merely as a social gathering or an institution to be attended due to parental pressure. This attitude can lead students to believe that teachers lack knowledge or competence.

A lot of schools place a lot of emphasis on academic knowledge and not as much on actual, hands-on training. Opportunities for teachers to engage in ongoing professional development are scarce. Only over 35% of teachers have access to professional development or in-service training, according to the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). The curriculum frequently fails to take into account contemporary teaching approaches and practices.

The Economic Survey for the year 2022-23 has highlighted several discouraging trends in India's education sector. Despite increases in student enrollment, improved school-level infrastructure, and a growing number of teachers, a concerning statistic stands out the total expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP has remained stagnant at 2.9% since 2019. This figure underscores a critical challenge faced by the education system in India. While there have been notable improvements in access to education and facilities, the financial commitment to education has not grown in proportion to the expanding needs of the sector.

The tremendous obstacles that instructors encounter today from syllabus pressure to class allocation and classroom management reflect the unappreciated nature of education in the modern day. These elements work together to give students the impression that becoming a teacher isn't always a feasible or fulfilling career option, which has important ramifications for the education industry as a whole. The condition of private school teachers is dire, as they are required to fulfill numerous tasks for meager salaries. A well-known private school math teacher expressed his discontent, stating, "I hate my job. Despite being a math teacher, I have to teach General Knowledge as well. In the past five years, I haven't received any promotion or salary increment." Many educational professionals, even after being in the job for 11 years, find little to no scope for promotion, particularly in teaching higher grades. A teacher who is less experienced but hired for higher classes enjoys the stature while a teacher who was hired for classes 1 to 5 remains in the position despite having years of experience.

These comparisons, injustices, and unequal treatment fill teachers with frustration, leading them to merely go through the motions of teaching. They lose interest and trust in the school, ultimately affecting the quality of education.

These conditions create a challenging environment for teachers, often leading to feelings of stress and even depression. These obstacles may cause students who want to become teachers to reevaluate their career decisions. Observing the difficulties faced by their educators, they could believe that teaching is a career that requires a great deal of commitment and work but offers little in the way of compensation. The disappointment may draw gifted people from becoming teachers, which would ultimately affect the direction of education.

Addressing the Issue: Reviving the Teaching Profession

Do you recall the times when our teachers asked us what we wanted to accomplish in our lives? We raised our hands to become doctors, engineers, painters, astronauts, and explorers while holding thousands of dreams in our hearts. They helped us realize our dreams by holding our hands and giving it their all. We should honor these unsung heroes in our lives who stand at the foundation of every great achievement.

We primarily need to encourage a change of perception toward educationalists. When we as a society start being respectable towards the nurturers of young minds, we subconsciously nudge individuals to pursue it. 

Apart from that following points can be taken into consideration:

1. The government can create stricter guidelines for the salary and incentives of private teachers, making sure educators are not taken advantage of financially. They should be provided with competitive salaries, housing allowances, healthcare, and retirement benefits so that more individuals are interested in pursuing their careers. 

2. Teacher’s training programs should be modernised by including practical skills and the latest technology which will improve the quality of education.

3. Taking note of the steps taken by other nations can provide better input on what can be done. For example, the USA strongly focuses on educational research and evidence-based practices and teachers also improve their teaching methodologies by engaging in research whereas Finland keeps a regular emphasis on teaching methods that must be grounded on scientific pieces of evidence. Similarly, Singapore completely focuses on innovative teaching practices and curricula that cultivate critical thinking abilities. By adopting these foreign models, India can change the current educational system and make the profession more interactive and dynamic.

4. Proper digital training must be provided to teachers since the world has become significantly digital. Not only will it improve the digital literacy of the teachers but also allow them to use various tools to impart education efficiently.

The Government of India launched NISHTHA (National Initiative for Schools Heads and Teachers Holistic Advancement) to upgrade the education system in India. The initiative is completely dedicated to improving the competencies of teachers and school principals and provides an interactive one-to-one training session where teachers can sharpen their pedagogical skills, learn classroom management techniques, and understand new educational policies and initiatives.

The outdated teaching practices need to be updated by inculcating the recent educational research, for this Education Ministry should take active steps to implement teacher-centric development policies, providing teachers with practical skills not merely theoretical knowledge. The Budget allocation should be significantly raised to provide better infrastructure and resources for the teachers. We need more initiatives like NISHTHA to train teachers to use digital classrooms, use the internet for better resources and digital libraries to use information more interactively.

Conclusion

The disconnect between childhood admiration for teachers and the reluctance to pursue teaching as a career in adulthood is a complex issue influenced by societal, economic, and systemic factors. By addressing these challenges and revitalising the teaching profession, India can ensure that the dreams and aspirations of its children are preserved in the transition to adulthood. Investing in the teaching profession is an investment in the future, and is crucial to make the teaching profession a desirable and respected career choice once again.