Words: 2114
Higher education in India has witnessed tremendous expansion since independence. The rapid advances and diversification of communication media in recent times have not only increased access to education but have also contributed to improvement in the quality of education. Education is a continuous process of imparting knowledge, developing skills, inculcating values and promoting the overall personality development of human beings. Imparting quality education is greatly influenced by different factors viz. urriculum, faculty, and information source, teaching methods, examination systems, evaluation mechanism and infrastructure. Among all the components, faculty assumes a vital role in ensuring a quality education. Continuous enhancement and up-gradation of a conceptual knowledge, practical skills and competencies of faculties in their respective specialised subjects to ensure quality education to younger generation has become the great concern of all academic institutions across the globe.
The ongoing economic policy reforms introduced from 1991, such as industrial delicensing, Foreign direct investment, revolution in the information technology, removal of quantitative restrictions and making education globally tradable commodity have posed a severe threat to all economic activities in India in particular and across the globe in general. The needs and necessities of our society are in dynamic nature and keep on changing with the passage of time and varying perception of the society.
These drastic revamps undoubtedly have put the Indian business enterprises under a constant and continuous pressure in terms of providing qualitative products at competitive prices, so as to satisfy customer’s expectations. This is turn, has put a pressure on educational institutions to provide a capable and competent personnel to business enterprises. Against this background, faculty development in educational institutions has assumed greater significance to satisfy the increasing expectations of industry and commerce. STUDENTS – THE PRESENT SCENARIO
The system of Indian higher education is the second largest in the world which fulfills the educational needs of millions of students coming from different sections of the society. There has been enormous increase in the number of colleges and universities. However, the success story of this impressive growth turns bleak when the question of quality is raised. The standards in higher education have been eroded by rising tides of mediocrity. Higher education has been finding it difficult to meet the challenges of knowledge explosion, financial crisis, and student unrest and so on.
There is a widespread concern about the lack of discipline in university and college campuses. There are different forms of campus disturbances created by students which include cheating in examinations, deterioration of academic pursuit and pressure group activities. Besides number of problems faced by our country pertaining to illiteracy, poverty, unemployment and so on, in the last few years, a nationwide problem has emerged, referred to as the problem of student unrest. Almost every individual is concerned with this problem as a parent, guardian, teacher, administrator or a member of society.
Science and technological innovations are changing the lifestyle of the students. It is perhaps the craving and yearning for glamour, whether affordable or not, for that purpose, our teenagers are ready to go to any extreme in behavioural sequence. The most dominating force seems to be this love of luxuries, the love of license and laxities that give some sort of monetary thrills rather than peace of mind. There is no proper and clear communication between the teacher and the taught and that is perhaps the greatest cause of student unrest in India.
CAUSES FOR STUDENT UNREST Student unrest means the participation of students in demonstrations, strikes, mass meetings, walk outs, processions, burning of libraries, laboratories, and university property, stabling and murders and violent confrontation with the police, transport workers, restaurant and shopkeepers in universities, towns and cities. The main causes for student unrest includes the following The students have lost their faith in education and they think that degree is nothing more than literacy certificate which in no way help their future.
The students come from poor socio-economic status due to deficient intellectual background of parents; negligible guidance is available at home. The teacher has lost the power to lead after having established economic relationship with the students. Political parties establish youth cells and encourage students on politics and exploit student energy for their own needs. Other causes such as failure in personality adjustment, anxiety about employment, too much leisure, poor students-teacher relationship, selective admission and lack of adaptability to the challenges of social changes, lack of parental care and affection at home.
Ads by Google DEFECTIVE EDUCATION SYSTEM Our education system does not provide for the development of economy. Some students take admission only for scholarship and who do not bother about academic ethos created. Our examination system has faulty system. At the end of the year these students appear for the examination and within three hours they prove their credibility. In our education system, vice chancellors, executives, syndicate members of the university are related with politicization.
Nowadays the number of academic institutions has increased but many do not have the capacity to instill in the students the spirit to function as an antidote to indiscipline. Appointment of principal, teacher admission of students all are based on commercial and economic benefits. PLACE OF A TEACHER Teaching is like no other profession. A teacher wears many hats in carrying out their duties which, includes communicated, a disciplinarian, a conveyer of information, an evaluator, a classroom manager, a counselor, a member of many teams and groups, a decision-maker, a role model and a surrogate parent.
Each of these roles requires practice and skills. They are also involved in committees, assessing students, grading homework, assignments, and projects and calling parents. All these den and some sacrifice of their personal time. If they are committed to excellence as a teacher, it is a sacrifice they can live with. If not, they will be uncomfortable at best. A teacher is a central figure in the formal learning set up. Teaching in the colleges is a uniquely demanding profession because the work of a teacher is evaluated not only in terms of what the teachers do but also in terms of what their students do.
Violence begins in human heart and it is in the human heart that the defense of peace has to be established. The teachers can evolve strategies to content the philosophy of violence in life and such efforts at the young and impressionable learners could certainly contribute effectively towards social cohesion and climate of peace and mutual respect. The students’ intelligence, adaptability, creativity, motivation, and general configuration of personality are important determines of how much he and she will learn than anything the teacher or curricular system can do.
Every educational administrator understands that quality teachers are critical to the academic growth and social development our youth. In a rapidly changes society where knowledge and skills are crucial for success students are our hope for the future. Creating new technologies developing breakthroughs in medical research and health care, working in global economies brought together through instantaneous communications are but a few of the unlimited opportunities awaiting today’s students.
Students with the skills developed and honed by caring and competent teachers represent our nation’s aspirations for a future where hard work and dedication are rewarded with success. In a big class, if the subject is presented in an effective way, the students become responsive and interested in the class. There is no point in throwing the entire blame on students for indiscipline in the class. We find some students who give trouble to one teacher are good listeners in classrooms of some other teacher. Why does this happen? Much depends on the teacher.
The teachers’ task, is however not complete even if he delivers his goods successfully. To be really capable of being exercising a guiding influence over student, a teacher must have lived life himself, must understand the social and biological drives of adolescence and what is more be able to utilise these forces in the development of a classroom curriculum based on the needs and interests of youth in the modern age. The following steps may be undertaken by the teachers who can certainly help in solving the problem of student unrest.
Creating and maintaining academic ethos, this is in pursuit of higher learning. Providing counseling services for dealing emotional and psychological problems. Creating relationship among the members of the campus and family of students. Implementing student welfare activities. Preparing students psychologically for difficult situations through between by psychologists and humanists. Involving parents in value programme to be undertaken by colleges. Observing students in classroom, workshop, hobby centres etc. Giving chance to students to discuss frankly their problems.
Arranging lectures on vocational and career guidance by eminent educationalists. Developing a sense of human brotherhood at social and national level among the students. EXPECTATION OF A TEACHER What is expected from teachers needs to be examined from the point of view of what needs to be done for them. Poor quality training facilities, low social status, unplanned manpower strategies, influx and reluctant entrants at the initial stages and lack of motivational inputs during the service periods are often responsible for low professional efficiency.
Besides, shortage in the number of teaching staff, inadequate number of teaching days, workload of individual teacher and the huge number of students in classroom stand as obstacles in the way of introduction of new technology supported methods. The ‘role model’ role of teachers shall always be before the society. They must present an image idealised by the society and children. Forays, children have given greater affection, regard and respect to teachers, than to their parents. This must be sustained.
According to Glenn Frank “the great teachers brings his business accurate and widen knowledge, intelligence, energy, adaptability, commonsense, high standards of personal character, sympathy and a convincing sincerity of personality”. The teachers have to become mobile personalities with high degree of empathy, achievement motivation, social sensitivity, risk taking capability and so on. SELF-LEARNING Self-learning is considered to be one of the most effective sources of continuously updating one’s own knowledge and skills.
Learning unknown things from people who knew them is always appreciated. There are abundant sources for self-learning. They are newspapers, journals, periodicals, case studies, autobiographies of successful people, subject dictionaries and so on. Fruitful interactions and deliberations with colleagues and subordinates will really bring forth new skills, experience and knowledge which can be transformed into practices, values and policies.
Attending seminars and workshops will promote intellectual deliberations, interaction between and among the teachers gathered with regard to new courses, innovative teaching methods, learning means, evaluation methods, new conceptual developments, current changes in the various subjects and so on. Carrying out research projects will develop qualities like ability to communication and writing skills, time consciousness, self-confidence, social responsibility etc.
On the other hand, consultancy is regarded to be an extension of professional skills acquired and developed through teaching and research in academic institutions, in the form of advice and guidance to different business enterprises in the areas like cost reduction, funds management, developing training programmes for employees, improving customer value and satisfaction, advancement of employee morale, undertaking market surveys, stores handling, promoting cordial and conducive human inter-personal relations, devising market strategies, presenting business information in a lucid and an impressive manner. CONCLUSION
Creativity provides a base for excellence in a competitive world. It is a powerful resource for survival. If we want our education system to serve the changes brought by the knowledge explosion of information technology, we must mobilise the creative talent of the vast human resources which is lying as stagnant condition. This is the need of the day. Only when the quality of teaching in good, higher education can successfully meet the dilemmas of quantity Vs. quality, accountability Vs. autonomy, creativity Vs. convergence and equity Vs. excellence and face confidently the challenges of 21st century which are round the corner.
Unless the teacher looks his job more as a mission or a vocation than as a means of livelihood, he can never discharge responsibilities satisfactorily. The teacher must be prepared to play his role as partner is learning, communicator of new technology and the agent of social change. The teacher and the teacher educators have to strive hard to achieve societal accreditation and acceptance of teaching as a profession on par with other distinguished professions. The quality of teaching depends upon the preparedness of the teachers to accept, adopt and adopt changes in the education system for the benefit of their wards.