I belong to that “royal” category of teachers, the college professor, who in the layman’s view has nothing else to do except profess to students and pocket a fat pay cheque at the beginning of every month. Mind you, a college professor sweats it out to earn every rupee she earns.
I belong to that generation of teachers caught in between the old laid-back style of teaching and juggling with digital technology. Though I work in a small college in a semi-urban area, it, like many other higher education institutions, is part of the rat race aiming at accreditation, autonomy and NIRF ranking.
Darwin’s survival of the fittest is attributed new meaning in the current educational scenario. Being a part of the NAAC accreditation preparation team, I, like many of my colleagues, have been embroiled in the nitty-gritty of the whole process. As part of accreditation, every higher education institution is expected to prepare and submit a self-study report (SSR) every five years in addition to an annual quality assurance report every year. The process is cumbersome, to say the least, besides being an insurmountable task for teachers who are not so technically savvy. The past few months we have breathed SSR, dreamed SSR, lived SSR.
Our entire life seemed to have boiled down to laptops and smartphones. Late and skipped lunches, dinner and sleep are the norm. At certain points of time, I have wondered, “Are we teachers or glorified clerical assistants.” Our vocabulary has hopelessly narrowed down to metrics, downloading, uploading, documents and so on. On the flip side, however, the whole exercise has made us teachers digitally and technically proficient. Evaluation and assessment are essential for improvement but having to compromise on our calling as teachers is something to be questioned. It’s almost akin to being subject to CCTV surveillance at all times. This is only the tip of the iceberg, my dear citizens. Teaching is a profession with many layers and connotations. What I and many other teachers really enjoy doing is the moments we interact with our students both within and outside the classroom. All said and done, a professor is a teacher after all.
shirley.philip22@gmail.com
