With more than 30 years of teaching experience behind him, this co-founder of Jamshedpur Graduate College for Women and retired reader of Co-operative College is a storehouse of knowledge...

Over the years...

Education has undergone a sea-change. Students have lost their innocence. Their formative years are spent grappling with a vast and difficult syllabus. But we fail to understand that while books can be the means to an end, it cannot be an end in itself. Answers to life’s questions cannot always be found in print. You have to go out there, experience, explore, discover, face challenges, over come them and learn from your mistakes.

No short cut...

To success. Sadly, tuitions gave become the way of life now. The effort to understand and appreciate a subject knowledge is lacking among the present generation. But then there has been a shift in priorities in teachers as well. Commercialisation of education has changed their attitude. Teaching has become more a profession than a noble duty.

Survival of the fittest...

Is the success mantra. The rat race to the finishing line has left most students bruised and beaten. But the education system cannot be changed, so attitudes should. Parents nowadays are looking beyond the conventional career options for their children and giving them the freedom to make their own choice and live by their own rules.

Colleges in Jamshedpur...

Have not yet been able to achieve the standard that they have been aiming for. Parents in the city still look upon the colleges in the city as a last option. For a place that meets such high standards of primary and secondary education, the dismal condition of colleges in the city comes as a surprise. I personally think if there is one common system of education instead of the ISCE, CBSE and Jharkhand boards it might help bridge the gap between quality of education received by students.

Things need to change...

And fast. The teacher-student ratio is abysmally low in some of colleges. With the government not appointing teachers to fill up vacant posts, the current staff members are overburdened. Teaching has become more of a compulsion. Absenteeism among students is rising. We need to inculcate discipline among students, we need more funds and a certain boldness on the part of the management to accept and incorporate changes.

In 1972, I suggested that if our Cooperative College has an examination hall then undue disruption of classes during the examinations can be avoided. The idea was accepted and work begun in right earnest to carry out the project.

Duties of a teacher...

Is varied in nature.Teachers should play the roles of a counsellor, a guide, friend and a surrogate parent. To justify one self in all these roles is a Herculean task. Somewhere every teacher has to connect to his students, understand their basic needs and dispel their insecurities and fears.

Jasmeeta Dubey