PC THOMAS: Teachers’ Day that is solemnly observed on September 5 in India is in tune with the age-old Indian tradition of Guru-Shishya (Teacher-student) relationship. Teacher’s day is celebrated on 5th of September every year because it is the birthday of a great teacher Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, who was also a well-known diplomat, scholar and the President of India. Some of his students pleaded with him to allow them to celebrate his birthday. He told them, "Instead of celebrating my birthday separately, it would be my proud privilege, if 5th September is observed as Teachers' Day".

A teacher par excellence, Dr. Radhakrishnan was a great thinker and writer.  He encouraged education in various ways. Teaching profession was his primary love and those who studied under him still remember with gratitude his great qualities as a teacher. India honored him with Bharat Ratna Award as recognition of his unique contribution to making India great.

Someone has said that teachers are greater than parents. Parents give birth to their children whereas teachers shape their character and make their future bright. Our parents play a key role in our growth by giving us love and quality care whereas our teachers accompany us in the holistic development of our personality. They are the source of inspiration to us to go ahead and succeed in life. So let us pay tributes to our teachers on Teachers' Day.

Education is the most significant means for a person’s development in a world of breakneck competition, and teaching is a very dignified profession that facilitates learning.  Hence teachers can be called architects of a nation, or rather civilization. One philosopher has said that everyone who remembers his own education remembers his teachers too, not the methods and techniques used by the teachers.

Unfortunately, on account of the pandemic Coronavirus, there has been enormous interruption in the arrangement for teaching and learning. Social relationships appeared to be undergoing a quick changeover from a close-knit to a highly restricted social behavior. Relationships are maintained mainly through the use of social media and electronic devices, leaving very limited scope for physical connections. The schools were closed for about 18 months and no physical classes and activities were held. Dr. Radhakrishnan might not have imagined that such a thing would happen to the educational sector.

Good teachers require students who are desirous of learning. No technology can replace a teacher. Technology is just a means to teachers as well as students. It can help the process of learning, but it certainly can’t replace the role of a teacher as a facilitator and mentor. Effective teachers are facilitators who make their impact by understanding the needs of the learners.

All education ultimately takes place on the student side because if the student has no desire to learn, the teacher cannot do anything. A teacher can show the way and ease the way, but the learner has to walk the path. That could be the reason for the maxim, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”. It implies that when a student acknowledges that he is in need of learning, he will open his mind to his teacher who is willing to guide him or her by creating a positive and active learning environment and making the learning relevant.

Let us hope that the current pandemic crisis will go away soon, and a new dawn will appear, and the teachers will be ever ready to enlighten students with a new way of learning. On this Teacher’s Day, let us acknowledge the fact that if knowledge is the LIGHT, then teachers are the guiding STARS.

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