Teachers are the pillars of any education system. Many of them go above and beyond their duty to make learning fun for students and ensure their well-rounded development. Whether it is crossing a river to get to school, using music to help children memorize vowels and consonants or educating them about mental health, they are truly inspiring.
However, News18 reports that when District Magistrate Devendra Kumar Pandey was on a surprise inspection of a government school in Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh, a teacher struggled to read aloud from the Class 8 English textbook.
#WATCH Unnao: An English teacher fails to read a few lines of the language from a book after the District Magistrate, Devendra Kumar Pandey, asked her to read during an inspection of a govt school in Sikandarpur Sarausi. (28.11) pic.twitter.com/wAVZSKCIMS
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 30, 2019
According to Financial Express, the DM went to a school in the Sikandarpur Sarausi area and noticed that the students were unable to read lines from their course books. When the teacher failed at it too he said,
“She should be suspended immediately. She is a teacher and she can’t read English.”
When she tried to defend herself, he replied,
“So what? You are a graduate. I didn’t ask you the meaning of anything. I didn’t ask you to translate this, I just asked you to read.”
People were appalled to see this sorry state of affairs and blamed the selection process.
If the dm is sensible he will do two things:-
1. Put the teacher through teacher training again for six months- 1 year, IAM sure process exists.
2. Transfer the teacher out of that school, students won't respect her anymore.
— Rahul Jain (@Rahuljain094) November 30, 2019
Common hai ye ! I know many who hv completed their BTC/D.El.Ed/B.Ed nd r taking TET for teaching jobs, don't even know 5th grade english properly. God knows what they r going to teach in class rooms after getting the job. But many r good too. Prblm lies in the selection process.
— V Abhyudaya 🇮🇳 (@Jr_Abhi007) November 30, 2019
Ohhh my fuc*ingg god….
never thought this is the condition…food and mid day meals have been a long standing issues and have been highlighted every now n then. But we thought , atleast teachers would be top notch..this is sorry state of affairs…
— devender singh (@Mrdevenders) November 30, 2019
https://twitter.com/IMAYU15/status/1200656654548660224
The pattern of selecting teachers should be based practical teaching, not on their academic marks or their memory (ratta method) skill.
— Ajay Pratap Singh (@AjayPratap_25) November 30, 2019
English Teacher cannot read English. Truth of Indian Education System.
— Ashish Gupta (@ashishgupta713) November 30, 2019
Many also highlighted the fact that the Indian education system focuses more on rote learning and marks rather than practical learning and that this root cause needs to be addressed.