Teachers – The guiding force behind nations
Mushtaq Hurra
Prophet Mohammad Salallahu-alaihi-wasalam has said, ” I have been descended as a teacher “. This Hadith is enough to prove the worth of teacher in a society. Teachers are the people who have freed nations from the yokes of slavery by sowing the seeds revolution in their minds, and have been detrimental in the rise of nations and societies.
Teachers have either been great leaders or statesmen of the world like the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), S RadhaKrishnan, Barrack Obama, Manmohan Singh, etc or have been the mentors of great leaders and statesmen.
This world would have been a hub of ignorance, superstition and darkness, if there had been no teachers. According to Quran, Allah became the first teacher of Adam Aliahi-salam, then angels taught Him the names of various things. Thus, this noble profession has descended from heavens.
Since times immemorial, the legacy of teaching has passed from one generation to the other, and this continuity will never ceases. A nation is not great by its armies, wealth and natural resources but by its dedicated and honest teachers. Here, I am reminded of Ralph Waldo Emerson who says that ‘Not gold but only men can make a people great and strong’.
If a nation has plenty of natural resources but has no required work force to harness and exploit those resources, means that nation can’t ride the path of progress and prosperity. Only good teachers can give a nation the honest , dedicated and skilled workforce to exploit its natural resources to the best possible level otherwise the rich resources are in vain.
Man has explored new vistas of life. From the bottoms of the earth to the heights of skies, man has touched and explored unimaginable peaks of success. We have advanced in every field of life to exceedingly high levels. If all this human progress will be put to one phrase, it won’t be science and technology but it would undoubtedly be teaching and teacher.
It is the teacher who develops critical thinking and inquisitive nature in a student. A teacher not only transfers the treasure of knowledge to the next generation but stirs the conscience of a nation, and helps its people to develop mentally and intellectually. It is the teacher who enables us to think rationally. It is a teacher who makes us logical and rationale. World is witness to the fact that great pupil are produced by great teachers only, and those pupil have brought exemplary changes in the world.
Besides the development of scientific temper among children, it is the teacher who works hard for our social, moral and economic reformation. In the recent times, we have been facing the pangs of growing indecency and lewdness. Values are crumbling. People have fallen to the lowest of low which is called by holy Quran as Asfala-Saafileen. This is the state where man is a man by looks only.
We are confronted with the same situation now. Here, the role of a teacher increases. Only a teacher can liberate us from the clutches of indecency and value deterioration. Teachers can revive the legacy of moral uprightness and honesty in our people. Changing times have made this profession more challenging, and has added a lot to its domain. A Teacher must not to forget to impart values and virtues to children in particular and to society in general.Thus, teacher should not confine himself to the boundaries of educational institutions rather the realms of his domain are very vast.
Our Teachers can’t afford to produce robots from colleges and universities who can work like machines albeit ethics and morals. Thus, teachers have been playing the great role of social reformers , and shall continue to play it till the day of judgement to make the world a better place to live in.I strongly believe that only our teachers can take us out from the tumultuous situations and can provide us the much needed salvation.
Unfortunately, the teacher in our part of globe is not at par with the teachers of other regions of the world. Our Teacher is not lacking intellectual mettle and capabilities but the ineffective system in Vogue forces him lag behind. The teacher in advanced countries is a 24*7 teacher while as our teacher is a 10 to 4 teacher. The former is not worried about any requirement, amenity or comfort like food shelter, remuneration and other necessities of life while as the later is treated as a simple government servant that too without salaries for months to-gather.Thus, the intellectual acumen of the later never reaches to its zenith.
The former spends his spare time in libraries while as the later is seen busy in non-academic jobs. Here, our teachers should break the stereotype, and should equip themselves with changing pedagogies and techniques. They should develop the habit of reading which can enhance and sharpen their capacities. Laggards and shirkers should quit otherwise they will be facing tough times ahead.
Our teachers must acquaint themselves with the changing and latest trends in teaching-learning processes. Though we don’t have libraries and reading rooms at par with developed countries of the world even many schools San small reading rooms but we must not leave it to Authorities only. We must buy our own books and must make use of ebooks to overcome the deficit. We must encourage group reading at Mohalla and village level.
A tragic irony has struck our part of globe where teachers don’t consider themselves learner’s. This attitude hinders the academic performance of our teachers which ultimately hits our children who are supposed to assume important positions in the tomorrow of our society.
Teachers lay the foundation of a nation. An engineer, an administrator, a leader and a doctor is shaped up by a teacher. A teacher is a gardener who must be honest, dedicated, trained and careful enough to deliver his duties in the best possible way.
(The writer is a teacher, columnist, poet, orator and social activist. He can be reached at mushtaqhurra143gmail.com)
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