As a facilitator, any aspect of change in the teacher-student relationship impacts me deeply and leads me to transcend and reflect on my role in today’s world. We have long been proud of our traditional methods of education and the relationships like the one between the guru and the shishya have been seen as sacral.
Recently there have been many instances that portray this beautiful relationship in a new light – not always positive. Are these rare incidents or do they symbolise the deep chasm that seems to have developed between the tutor and the taught and are they a sign of the times? This has struck at the very basic root of the educational system in India and has created unease and led to soul searching. Indeed it is a wake-up call. If only we could open our eyes, look with compassion, and listen with our hearts.
More than that, we have to lend our ears to the pleas of the teaching fraternity toiling under great compulsion and struggling to enlighten the minds of the future citizens of our nation.
Education should be the one area of constant revision, change, and improvement for any country which seeks to establish itself as a power. Revolutionary progress is much needed at all levels of our education system. A complete overhauling of the system and a more open-minded approach to teaching and learning should be our call.
Much needs to be done. Constructive and effective dialogue has to be set up between the teachers, the parents, and the students. The channels of communication and facilitation should be opened and widened to allow for more awareness and understanding. Parents and teachers both have a great impact on the mind of a young child. If the home environment is conducive and children are encouraged to respect their teachers, then the school too will become a place of illumination and learning. Creating an optimistic feeling towards school and teachers will only help parents to enable their children to establish strong bonds with their alma mater and their teachers. Similarly, school staff to need to be sensitized to the pressures faced by parents and children today and be facilitated to handle them with sensitivity and sensibility. This will lead to mutual respect and acceptance and further strengthening of the teacher-student symbiotic relationship.
Let us begin this noble task. Let us make platforms that will enable our future citizens to fly high. Let us say “We Are Together”
By, Madhuri.V. Iyer, CCA Coordinator, Ekya BTM
An old book with coarse pages,
A new book with smooth
The ink on the cover dried and peeling
Or glossy, shiny, and fresh
Running my fingers across the pages
This is how I can touch happiness.
The smell of my washed hair
The scent of a delicate perfume
The aromas of a bustling street
With untouchable foods in the open
Catching a whiff of the earth on a rainy day
This is how I can smell happiness
The taste of the seasonal mango
The tang of a sour candy
The warmth in a cup of cocoa
Or inexpensive flavoured ice
A classic chaat from ye olde vendors
This is how I taste happiness
The mellow music while sitting in the bus
The loud metal that drowns your thoughts
The soulful indie when I’m all alone
With headphones on against the wall
Birds chittering at five a. m.
This is how I hear happiness
The genuine smile so rarely spotted
The bold colors on a canvas
The pile of gifts at my birthday party
Shiny, new, and begging to be opened
Particles of dust illuminated by a ray of light
This is how I see happiness
They say happiness is intangible
Abstract, untouchable, invisible
But at moments like these, I feel
Like I can almost touch it,
As though it is a literal object
Just out of reach by a mere millimeter
That is when I feel happiness.
By, Pragya, Grade 10, Ekya BTM
2020, an important year for the world, one for the reason being- the beginning of a new decade and two- the onset of a worldwide pandemic - as defined by the world health organisation. Exactly 100 years from 2020, in the year 1920 a similar kind of event occurred where the disease of Spanish flu caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus, spread like wildfire ;
It's almost as if its a circle, no matter what timeline, similar events keep recurring giving a sense of deja vu, we always reach the starting point, although it might feel like it's a first-time event for millions of youth- it simply is history repeating itself, billions of ancestors would have experienced the same exact thing that we are experiencing today and encountered familiar struggles.
Currently, masses across the globe are facing a historical event and not the good kind. It is excruciating to even think about how different people are missing out on some of the most important moments of their lives and are unable to celebrate with their loved ones.
It is difficult to say which generation is suffering the most, it may be the youth who can't step foot in the first step of their life which would be the basis of their entire being - nursery, or young adults who are missing out on the supposedly “fun years” and adventures that could have become future stories they reminisce when they miss being the age they are now or others.
From the point of view of a senior about to graduate high school, everything changed so quickly I didn't get time to adjust, two minutes ago I was in 10th grade, celebrating the cancelling of board exams, and suddenly this wave of responsibility gushed over me as I near the age of 18, it is scary to think about how different of a person I’ve become, it was easier to connect and even socialise when I was younger, I would give up anything to experience the joy of being carefree and oblivious again.
By, Yukta Jhaveri, Grade 12, Ekya BTM
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