Going the extra mile

COVID-19 has brought various changes to the entire world. Life before and after COVID-19 shall never be the same. Almost all corners of psychosocial perspectives have undergone transformation and human beings are being subject to variegated experiences hitherto unknown. The domain of education is no exception to the changes. As one of the most vital components of social life, education concerns all sections of the society. In doing so, it directly correlates with the development of human resources. The process of education is incomplete without the art of teaching. In fact, it is the symbiotic relationship between the teachers and students that sustains the process of teaching and learning. In India, we have a long-cherished history of the student-teacher relationship, where the teacher is not just supposed to be imparting lessons; he/she is to ensure the holistic development of the students. As we celebrate Teacher's Day, we need to understand how the roles of the teaching community are changing in the light of the inevitable changes in our lives. We also need to understand that just by celebrating a single date as Teacher's Day, we are failing to appreciate and assess the contribution that the teaching community has been fostering for ages by adapting to the demands of much-required changes. In this digital era, the teacher's role has shifted from a mere preacher to the manager of students' social and emotional behaviour. Teachers are mentors, motivators for slow learners and facilitators to the process of education. While playing the role of a facilitator, a teacher remains significant beyond the domain of classroom teaching. Modern education is not just confined to the completion of curriculum; it is also concerned with taking care of the components that are essential for a student to enjoy the benefits of education. Several programmes launched by the government — both at the Central and state level —take care of the fundamental needs of students, without which, the purpose of education will get impeded. In the context of varying roles of teachers, they do play a decisive part in making these programmes achieve intended outcomes.

As covid has dented every pattern of social existence, it has also left an indelible mark on education. For almost one and a half years, educational institutions, almost in all standards and disciplines of academics, are experiencing suspension of classes. But does that really mean that the process of learning has come to a halt? No, and it has become possible because the teachers have not allowed that to happen. There has been a ready switchover from the classroom mode of teaching to a virtual mode where e-education has become the practice. Now, this has not at all been so easy, as it not only requires technological setup, it also calls for a psychological setup. The same teachers who have been imparting lessons in conventional format for years, readily transformed them to accommodate this new demand. It has been no mean task, for they needed to go an extra mile in order to make the students accept the new mode of teaching, to retain their attention and motivation. Above all, there has been the issue of communication without which the lessons could never be taught and the syllabus could not be covered. Since our modern education emphasizes learning outcomes, the teachers have to keep that in mind and have to try and ensure that the students understand the subjects in a manner that would accomplish them to grasp the syllabus content of the next higher class. Just imagine a teacher teaching a student of pre-primary level over a computer or a smartphone. In a classroom situation, small children tend to deviate from attention. Now, in the virtual mode of instruction, this tendency multiplies. What patience a teacher needs to show while dealing with this kind of situation! This is what the teachers have been doing daily. heterogeneous groups of students need to be addressed and that too when you are not exactly able to see them in the way you did in a classroom. A minimum pondering over these constraints might reveal the monumental effort that the teaching community is exerting for the well-being of our children. This is happening from kindergarten to postgraduate level. Examinations are being conducted in virtual mode and the teachers wait patiently for the upload of answer scripts and evaluate those within due time. What is truly amazing is that despite such a critical situation that we have been facing for more than a year, examinations and publication of corresponding results have not been deterred.

Various programmes and scholarships implemented at the school and college levels are mostly officiated by the teachers. In states like West Bengal, the mid-day meal scheme is operative, though schools are closed. Every month, teachers carry out the duty of distributing dry rations to the guardians of eligible students. Flagship programmes like 'Kanyashree' in West Bengal would have found difficulties in execution had the teachers not been so diligent to ensure that eligible beneficiaries were not being left out. Similar programmes like 'Shikhshasree', 'Aikyasree', 'Taruner Swapno' (distribution of tabs to the students), 'Sabooj Sathi' (distribution of bicycles to the students) are also being implemented for students, with teachers lending their supportive hands. In all these programmes, the teachers are playing a major role. Since students are not coming to the institutions and all are not privileged to have internet access, the work is not so easy. From school to college and university levels, several scholarship schemes exist and who else but the teachers could be so committed to bringing the welfare programmes of the government to the grip of the students.

According to Rousseau, "A student is like a book whose every page a teacher must read''. Indeed, in this era of moral vacillation and psychological temptations, it is all the more important that teachers should have transparent communication with the students. Hence, from being facilitators in learning and complements to learning, teachers in today's world also discharge the responsibility of training the students for increasing employability skills, expanding their minds and growing them as digital citizens. Today, teachers have combined with technology in propagating learning, not just to develop academic results but also to elevate students' minds. In the growing complexities of present times, various impediments crop up even in the process of teaching. Some believe that perhaps the function of a teacher is losing influence owing to the digitization of knowledge. Teachers, however, are responding to these growing challenges. The manner in which the teachers are dealing with the current crisis has reinforced the age-old idea that a teacher conquers eternity; you never know when his/her influence begins.

The writer is an educator from Kolkata. Views expressed are personal