SOCIETY'S EXPECTATIONS OF THE TEACHER (10 & 11)
The National Scene 9.01 The suggestions made in the foregoing sections of this report, particularly in Chapter IV are aimed at providing such working conditions, as, in the judgement of this Commission, are necessary to enable a school teacher to perform his functions effectively. But it must be stressed that though necessary, these conditions are by no means sufficient to ensure that. A very vital condition of improved teacher performance is his own awareness of what the society expects of him, and his commitment to respond positively to that awareness.
9.02 That the present performance levels of our teachers leave much to be desired is well known. Much has been reported about the large scale failures of students in the, Indian educational system, dropout and stagnation leading to wastage, low standards. breakdown of the examination system and student indiscipline. True, all these are only symptoms of the deeper maladies afflicting our educational system but that teachers also constitute an important casual factor, cannot be disputed.
9.03 During its consultations in a State, some of the Commission's witnesses made it known in no uncertain terms that discipline amongst teachers and students has been fast on the decline, that secrecy in examinations is no longer maintained. or maintainable and mass copying in schools has become the order of the day. Some of the principals deposing before it lamented that they had no powers over teachers and were not in a position to enforce order and discipline. Nor did the District Inspectors of Schools and other officials exercise any authority over them as the erring teachers' were often supported by powerful teachers associations. We were told that there was no assessment of a teachers' academic and other work and that teachers were virtually unaccountable to anybody. The most important factor responsible for vitiating the atmosphere in schools, we were told, has been the role of teacher-politicians and teachers' organisations. More than one witness felt deeply concerned that the teacher has lost his traditional respect in spite of better pay, and working conditions and that as the majority of teachers in the State no longer do justice to their duties either towards the students or the society the collective image of teaching community is very low.
9.04 The Honourable Education Minister of a State pointed out that while the State Expenditure on education had risen from Rs. 100 crores (in 1970) to Rs. 500 crores a year, the State was not getting adequate returns from this huge investment and that the accountability of the teachers continued to be low in spite of job security and improvement in their working conditions. He painfully recalled that nearly 500 secondary schools in the State had returned less than 15% passes at the last SSC examination.
9.05 Poor teacher performance is not a problem to be found in one or two States only ; the disease, it one might use the term, is rampant and its spread so wide that there is hardly a segment of the nation's education services which is exempt from its injurious effects. Of the 52 parents who participated in a small questionnaire- based study of the Commission 80 per cent expressed dissatisfaction with the performance. of the teachers of their children. This is not to gains say that there are exceptional teachers here and there, who in spite of all the political and other constraints of the situation, are doing a remarkably good job and do the nation proud. But that is not the point; the problem really is that the average teacher who expects a great deal of the society, is not performing his academic and other duties properly and is not at all prepared, to adapt a famous saying, to ask "What have I done for my school and for my country ?"
Rights are essential 9.06 It must be conceded straightway that no teacher can ever perform his professional role and
1 Among the reasons for this dissatisfaction uncovered by the study were teacher's lack of interest in classroom teaching and greater interest in private tuition and business activity.
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SOCIETY'S EXPECTATIONS OF THE TEACHER 69
functions effectively unless the society concedes him his basic rights. He must for instance have reasonable job security and in normal circumstances must enjoy adequate safeguards at each stage of a disciplinary enquiry. Should there be an unfavourable assessment of his work he must be able to exercise his right to appeal. It is gratifying that many State Governments have already legislated to safeguard the career interests of teachers of non-government schools against wrongful termination of services and denial of due rights.
9.07 Again, a teacher must be academically free to do his professional work which means he should have a say in the choice and adaptation of teaching materials and teaching methods, and in tie selection of evaluation techniques considered appropriate for ap- praising a pupil's progress. His recommendations regarding the suitability of individual pupils for courses of further education of different kinds must also receive due weight. Parenthetically our own impression is that altogether there is considerable reluctance on the part of teachers to exercise their right of academic freedom even when there seem to be no limiting circumstances. Perhaps it is not so, much the lack of freedom to experiment, innovate, and participate in educational decisions, as the absence of initiative and enthusiasm on their-part that accounts for the present state of affairs. Anyhow, this is a problem to which teacher training institutions and those responsible for the, supervision and administration of schools must turn their attention seriously.
But rights imply responsibilities 9.08 But rights signify responsibilities and one cannot be divorced from the other. One of the most basic of obligations that comes to one's mind first is that it will be well-nigh impossible for a teacher to attain any worthwhile professional standards in his work if he is not punctual and regular in the performance of his duties, remaining scrupulously honest and above board in all his work concerning student admissions, teaching and appraisal. He, must be just and impartial in dealing with students and under no circumstances must he be seen to be succumbing to the temptation of exploiting students against his colleagues. He must not engage in any remunerative activity such as private tuition or some other business activity with. out the prior permission of the authorities. A good teacher is in a unique position to influence his pupils in matters of dress, taste and manners; as such he is expected to live a simple unostentatious life. His attitude towards his pupils is expected to be one of affection and understanding; and yet in dealing with them he should be both firm and consistent.
Teachers favour the idea of a code of conduct for themselves 9.09 There is a growing awareness of the interfunctionality of a teacher's rights and responsibilities and of the need to do something about it, not only among politicians and administrators but among teachers' organisations and teachers themselves. The idea that there should be a code of conduct for teachers has been debated for many years now, but there has been no clear policy decision in the matter. Whenever there is discussion of the falling performance levels of teachers the issue keeps coming to the fore momentarily now and then, but there is no sustained follow-up to work out and enforce its policy implications.
9.10 Hopefully, the teachers and teachers' organisations themselves recognise clearly the need for such a code. In the Commission's survey a vast majority of respondents in each category expressed itself in favour of the idea. The respondents in favour were: primary teachers 93.2%; secondary teachers 90.22%; prominent persons including educationists 95.20%; educational administrators 97.0% ; teacher educators 92.29%; students 81.82%; and teachers' organisations 81.63%.
9.11 While expressing themselves in favour of the idea of a code, many of the teachers insisted that the formulation, of the proposed code must be undertaken or completed in consultation. with the teachers or their organisations. Typical of the reactions of the organisations favouring the code idea was that of the All India Federation of Educational Organisations. The Federation suggested that a code of conduct should be evolved only in consultation with the national teachers' organisations, and that instead of using the term 'Code of Conduct', it would be better to employ the term 'Code of Ethics for Teachers.
9.12 There were also individual reactions from some of the respondents questioning the very idea of a code. Some of them felt, for instance, that when the, entire social and political life in the country is vitiated by indiscipline, for which politicians are largely to blame. there can hardly be any justification for singling, out teachers for the imposition of a code. "However, if it has to be there, a code of conduct must be; formulated for Members of Parliament, Ministers and others also".
Implementation 9.13 Whatever the precise provisions of a given code, a major question, will always be : How is one going to get a code implemented effectively ? It is common place that in many places, despite elaborate
70 THE TEACHER AND SOCIETY
service rules governing the conduct of teachers in government and aided institutions, their enforcement leaves much to be desired. In fact the view has some. times been taken, and not without justification is that in good part problems of poor teacher performance arise essentially because of the incompetence and un- willingness of authorities to implement or enforce the, service regulations.
9.14 Take, for instance, the practice of an annual appraisal of teacher's performance, wherever such a practice is in existence. In ever so many cases. even when the concerned teacher's performance has been consistenly unsatisfactory over a period of time, the appraisal of his performance and conduct is not unlikely to be couched in terms not altogether unfavourable, with the result thit the entire exrcise in assessment of conduct loses all meaning.
9.15 In our humble judgement, the first step that any administration interested in improving teacher performance, must take is to remove the present 'over security' of service in government and aided institutions. because, as pointed out by the Kothari Commission 1 it creates an atmosphere of complacency and lethargy. In most schools as in other government and public departments as they function at present, performance is seen as irrelevant to survival. True. the human side of the enterprise is important and must not be ignored, but no task-oriented organisation interested in results can tolerate a situation in which non-performance simply does not matter. Without restoring the mutuality and reciprocity of security and performance, it is impossible to see how the performance of teachers, or for that matter of any other category of public functionary, can improve.
Disciplinary procedures need simplification 9.16 To achieve this, both recognition of merit and disciplining of the non-performer or the inefficient is important. While every care must be taken that a teacher or functionary to be proceeded against is given reasonable opportunity to defend himself, and to go in appeal against a decision considered unjust, it is equally important for the health and well-being of the organisation that the conduct of disciplinary proceedings be prompt. The existing procedures hardly function that way and serve little disciplinary purpose indeed.
Recruitment to be institution-based. 9.17 A corollary to our emphasis on decentralisation of educational management and control of schools is that the recruitment of teachers should be to individual institutions, so that when a teacher is appointed, he is fully aware that his own career prospects will no longer be independent of the fortunes of the school to which he is posted. This is the only way to help teachers develop a sense of loyalty to their institutions without which any hope to achieve educational excellence in our schools and colleges will remain a pious dream.
9.18 Another important implication of such a recruitment policy will be that except when rights of promotion so require, it will not be necessary to transfer a teacher from one place to another for political and other considerations. Witness after witness before the Commission has gone on record to, regret that in many States the present transfer policies (or lack of them !) are playing havoc with the educational process and the functioning of schools.
PolItical Rights of Teachers 9.19 But considering the political realities of the situation. what are the chances that the kind of suggestions indicated above will be found acceptable and taken up seriously for implementation by the authorities that be ? We are not unmindful that the, situation is a difficult and complex one, as most of the more powerful teachers' organisations in this country are tied to the apron strings of different political parties, and have not so far shown much inclination for independent decision making. We are not surprised that situated as these organisations are, they have a strong tendency to gravitate towards politically motivated protests, pressure tactics and agitations,
9.20 One of the questions in the Commission's questionnaire was: To what extent are teachers' organisations affected by politics, individual interests of leadership and regionalism ? "To a great extent", was the response of 85.53 per cent primary teachers, 75.01 per cent secondary teachers, 89.78 per cent prominent persons and educationists, 86.02 per cent educational administrators. 84.21 per cent teacher educators, and 80.00 per cent students. Understandably enough only 25.00 per cent of the teachers' organisations concurred in this assessment; the majority 75 per cent took the view that they were affected only to a small extent.
9.21 Concern about the politicisation of teachers' organisations is very widely shared. During our hearings one important witness after another pleaded that the teachers must not be allowed to participate actively in politics and that educational institutions must give no quarter to trade union activities. While we fully appreciate the considerations that prompt such pleadings, we are unable to endorse the suggestion that while other categories of citizens should continue to enjoy their political rights guaranteed by the Consti-
1 Report of the Kothari Commission, 1964-66, page 252.
1 See question 10.3 in Appendix VI.
SOCIETY'S EXPECTATIONS OF THE TEACHER 71
tution, there should be an embargo on the political activities of teachers. The suggestion, to our mind is both unconstitutional and unethical. However, if there is a general review of the country's political system and its functioning at any stige, the new changes could be expected to affect the teachers also.
Formulation of a Code 9.22 Assuming that standards of teachers' performance must improve a good deal if education has to have much greater meaning and stimulus for individual and national development, we recommend that the Ministry of Education in concert with the State governments, should take immediate steps to prepare a Code of Conduct for teachers. The code should be prepared in, consultation with the teachers' organisations and the formulation must be done at the national level. Its preparation at the national level is important as that alone, would be consistant with the dignity, unity and integrity of the teaching profession and make the code equally applicable to all teachers throughout this land.
9.23 Encouragingly enough, the majority of our respondents have favoured the idea of the preparation of a Code at the national level. Primary teachers 70.29% ; Secondary teachers 67.9% : Prominent persons and Educationists 78.76 % ; Educational Administrators 82.15%; Teacher educators 71.20% ; Students 84.21% and Teachers' Organisations 53.92%. Some of the respondents favoured the Code's preparation at the State' level: Primary Teachers 19.56% ; Secondary Teachers 17.03% ; Prominent persons and Educationists 5.31% ; Educational Administrators 6.73% and Teachers' Organisations 33.82%.
Code Enforcement 9.24 Preparing a code of conduct is not itself a very difficult exercise ; examples of two Codes-one of which is prescribed in the Delhi Schools, and the other in the Kendriya Vidyalayas (Central Schools) can, be seen in Appendix X. The really difficult question is: how to ensure a reasonably satisfactory enforcement of the rules ? We have already expressed the view, and there is no need to labour the point further, that this is essentially a matter of political will. and determination. If the political leadership. wants to implement a national code for teachers, it will first have to create a work climate in which, not only teachers but every other category of workers feels motivated to do his duty conscientiously, to work hard and to give of his best. If such a climate is created, we feel that not only the teachers, but the entire nation 1 A few respondents also favoured the idea at both the levels, national as well as State. The percentages for these were: Primary Teachers 9.42 % Secondary Teachers 14.62%; Prominent persons and Educationists 15.04%; Educational Administrators 11.11%; Teacher Educators 13.23% and Teachers' Organisations 7.35%.
can be relied upon to support the measure enthusiastically. We have thought our hardest, but have been unable to discover a substitute nostrum for political initiative and efficient result oriented administration. It is our hope, however, that by decentralising the management of government institutions, and by giving more authority and powers to the Heads and local management committees of Government and aided institutions, and by holding them accountable for the responsibilities assigned to them things will begin to look up and the overall climate in the country become more favourable for higher standards of instruction and teacher performance.
9.25 We must invite attention in the present context to the need to promote actively parents' organisations all over the country. At present there are hardly any such organisations interested in providing good education to their children. We feel that such organi- sations are desperately needed to promote and safeguard the educational interests of their wards and to counteract the negative and unhealthy political preoccupations of some of the teachers and their organisations. Needless to add, parent-teacher organisations wherever they exist, or can be brought into being, can also play an important role in stimulating teachers to perform better without interfering with school administration.