In ancient times a teacher was considered to be a guru, but sadly only the male child had the privilege of getting educated and that too if he belonged to a certain caste or community.

The other children were not given the opportunity to education. The females on the other hand were completely denied any education except to learn the art of cooking and housekeeping.

The teacher [guru] taught all that he knew, all his skills to the child and most often the child had to live with the teacher [guru] till he had accomplished all the skills.

Naturally for the child, the teacher was supreme and he gave the teacher all the respect, for he knew that the teacher was responsible for his growth from a child to man.

With development across all sectors, education too changed and is still changing.

If I go back to the seventies or even the eighties the teachers did command a lot of respect for the teacher was the one who brought about the change in the child, the child developed all the skills as well as acquired knowledge from his teachers and for him the teacher’s word was the Gospel truth.

The child learnt all values from the teacher not only from what was taught by the teacher but from what he saw all around him. A special bond formed between the teacher and the child, as the teacher guided him in all the virtues.

Now let us take a look at the present scenario and the changing face of education.

The importance and respect is sadly no longer for the teacher but the child.

This attitude comes from the families itself, as in the present situation where there is an only child, the child becomes the centre of attention. In such a situation now the teacher has to adapt to suit the present scenario.

The teacher listens to the child and changes her ways to suit the situation as her job is to impart knowledge and values, how she does it, is her job, a tough job indeed.

Secondly with the floodgates of the digital world open the child is no longer depended on the teacher.

Knowledge now is available at the touch of their fingertips. So  is the  Teacher going into redundancy, no not at all , the teacher now has to play another role, a more challenging one.

She now becomes a facilitator and is there for the child to guide him in the correct direction, thus, though the child may get the knowledge, he still needs the teacher to make him understand and teach him and to guide and mentor him so that the correct values are instilled in the child.

A teacher only can understand the role of a teacher which is that of a knowledge giver, a guide, a mentor, a counselor, a friend, a facilitator, all roles rolled in one.

My salute to all my fellow teachers, carry on the good work, rewards are seen in the shining faces of our students or even the not so happy faces as we know at the end of the day we have fulfilled our mission.

Gladys Da Silva
 [sector 2 zone1]