Reshaping teacher-student relationship

The most difficult task is to draw comparisons between the past and present generations. As chairman of Army Public School, Bhopal, I was once asked to speak on the topic, ‘Teachers of yesteryears and today’. My first thought was that while the discourse needed a subtle deliverance to call a spade a spade, I must also ensure that the teaching faculty present at the event should not get offended.

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Before coming to the core subject, I decided to cite two personalities for the respect they had for their teachers throughout their life. The first was Field Marshal Ayub Khan, who later became the President of Pakistan. In his autobiography, ‘Friends Not Masters’, he made a special mention of his teacher, Master Sujhan Singh. Ayub Khan mentioned that the teacher was passionate about shaping his students as achievers. The second to feature was the late King of Oman, Sultan Qaboos. Both the Sultan and his father were educated in India. When President Shankar Dayal Sharma went to Oman on an official visit, the Sultan broke all protocol, drove to the tarmac, climbed the ladder and received the President in the aircraft. He drove him to the palace himself. It was a bond between the teacher and the student.

Students of yesteryear regarded their teachers as gurus. This is unlike today when we find success stories being written by many, but rarely have I heard them talk about their teachers with such respect. There is something amiss in the teacher-student relationship.

Comparing the two generations, I said that teachers in the past were a bridge between the child and the parents. They had the unique ability to shape students’ character and impart values that guided them throughout life. The life lessons they instilled were beyond textbooks, fostering a sense of responsibility and self-realisation. They opened the minds of the students.

As I could feel critical eyes gauging me for being biased towards the teaching faculty of the past, I said the teachers now sharpened the minds of students. They are trained to provide structured and systematic learning, using textbooks and syllabi for the skills which the world requires. The only thing needed was to redefine the parent-teacher-student equation with passion and compassion.

I also shared with them my own experiences as a student. Officers in the Army are often put through various courses for professional advancement.

Our instructors at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, always lay stress on the fact that in addition to the prescribed syllabi, an officer must have the virtues of C3I — character, courage, competence and intelligence. The purpose is to bring out a ‘complete man’.

In the pursuit of excellence, there may be times when you will get questioned about your credentials. While selecting teachers for the school, I was taken aback when one of the aspirants asked me if I had done my BEd. I took the potshot in my stride and stated that next time, I will sit on the panel only after obtaining this degree; which I completed as Brigadier, and that too along with my daughter. There is no fullstop when it comes to being a teacher or a student.