The role of a teacher has always been crucial in fueling forward the nation via the wheels of education. But let us not talk about the teaching methods and teacher quality anymore. That will definitely hurt. This may well cause outrage amongst the string pullers, obviously some businessmen, operating behind the scenes. Unfortunately, attaining knowledge these days has become a flourishing business for those who already own money and now want to build upon them even more.
The phrase “plummeting pedagogy” encapsulates an immense decline in teaching quality, student-teacher engagement, and declining academic outputs that is a real menace. The problem is bidirectional in a sense that teachers these days are getting overwhelmed with excessive syllabi, and the students unable to cope with them. With ever evolving technology, shortening of attention spans, and increasing distractions are making it extremely cumbersome to catch up. Students abilities and absorbing powers have been reshaped and the teachers find it difficult to teach newest ideas with traditional ways.
The whole concept of education has sadly been reduced to a mere bunch of students sitting politely in front of an instructor, hoping they would not be overburdened with extra assignments for the day. Pedagogy is exponentially plummeting in Pakistan. Thanks to the internet, and the advent of Chat-GPT these days which play crucial role in helping the instructors construct lecture slides. What an easy way out. Mistakes and repetition in them hint at the lethargy and disinterest on their part. They are well ordered_ credit should be proffered here_ and thus putting them to memory by continuous repetitions is not hard, and our instructors get to do that quite well.
The question arising here is what is the role a of teacher then if they themselves consume chat GPT? Should they memorize the stuff night before and simply reproduce on the board without having full grasp themselves. I may sound harsh here, but that’s the case unfortunately. Teachers, once thought to be the game changers, have reduced to mere extra helpers. We get to hear the argument that they are full of knowledge but aren’t capable of delivering well enough. That’s the root of the problem. A teacher is not supposed to be brimming with information but one who can get his mind across and push his pupils through. He is supposed to be the guide and reformer, not just a deliverer of information.
The argument produced above can be supported by the fact that most of these pedagogues instead of working for the conducive class environment try to suppress opposing voice. They will flaunt their foreign university degrees, many have them these days, in your face every time a question is raised. We used to be a society helping each other selflessly. But sadly we see this fading away. One is supposed to have a subject related question only if an answer is to be expected for that.
The teacher-student relationship is almost non-existent. They both know very well its only going to be an hour face-off at class. The poor student will be assigned a task and the instructor need not to worry any further. It has become normal for a teacher suggesting some online channel for cementation of concepts. This sad reality is deeply entrenched in almost every educational institution now. We as a nation are shying away from taking responsibility.
Observing the fast changing world, one gets upset by the fact how would we be able to compete with the progressive west. Our ways of pedagogy are stale and worn out. The class room size is shrinking there whereas its opposite here. You have to have a loud throat to be heard from the back of rear benches. Even though science has proven through multiple studies that small class size boosts students’ performance, our policymakers have never paid heed to them. The sad reality of our society is that we know what’s right but still act the otherwise. The scenes at Pakistani classrooms_ much smaller entities_ are copy pasted well at the top. The lawmakers seem to have absolutely no clue about the functioning of the state. We as a nation are always in haste. Ruining almost everything.
While many countries prioritize educational investment for long-term development, Pakistan allocates barely 1.7% of its GDP to the sector. This paltry funding leads to crumbling infrastructure, outdated learning materials, and a shortage of qualified educators. Adding to this deplorable situation is rampant corruption and mismanagement.
Educational institutions have become political battlegrounds, where appointments hinge not on merit but on personal or political connections. This disregard for professionalism has compromised the quality of teaching. Instead of nurturing young minds, many teachers focus on maintaining political allegiances to secure their positions. This has contributed to the rapid decline of academic standards across the country. Without drastic reforms, the nation’s youth will continue to be ill-equipped to navigate the complexities of the 21st century.
But we should still have faith and not make ourselves feel abjectly disillusioned. We have done our selves enough damage. The rot should cease. Teachers training programs are in place but they be made more effective. Teacher student relation be re-visited and henceforth molded in way that helps student get the most benefit out of it. Learning be made the priority instead of quick assignment submissions. The other major problem to be amended is plagiarism. This is the real menace, and if looked into deeply one finds lack of proper education at the primary level. High moral ground, strong ethics and sincerity with their work should be greatly stressed upon. Its not just about being the best in academics, but being the top student should be the ultimate goal.
