Guruji, bring their 'S-M-I-L-E' back

Respected teachers, as you all are set to be reunited with your pupils, I am thinking about you and the onus that rests on your shoulders in this hour of unprecedented crisis. You must be feeling happy to see the cute little faces, a sight you have missed in over a year. It is likewise with the kids, who must have missed their beloved teachers, buddies, benches, sharing lunch, pranks and the playground.

UNICEF and UNESCO were bang on when contending that schools should be the last to close and the first to reopen. It is bound to be a moment of immense inner joy for you and your students, notwithstanding the suspected threat of the third wave.

Mind you, dear teachers, the tiny-tots are not the same as they were when you last saw them. Reasons: trauma created by Covid-19 and ill-impact caused by internet.

Unlike you and me, the kids have witnessed the worst human grief from close quarters at a tender age. The passing away of a family member, job loss of breadwinners, people's desperate attempts to find hospital beds and oxygen cylinders, the painstaking efforts of the parents to mobilise money to bear medical costs, and the compulsion to stay indoors for a long, kids saw everything. They underwent an unimaginable trauma because of these nasty developments. Instead of fun and frolic, they experienced the rough and tumble of life, which even elders fail to come to terms with.

Devastated by the trail of horror they have been seeing for months together, the kids will be coming to classrooms bearing an anguished mind. Moreover, being away from regular education, and physical activities, several of them would be rusty.

I wish to take this occasion to share with you the inputs I gathered from some parents and teachers about the psychological transformation of some of the teenage students during lockdown. I feel sad to state that the near 24x7 access they had with the virtual world has spoiled many. I am told that the students whose digital footprint was not closely monitored by parents have been exposed to obscene video clips and similar useless stuff!

A couple of vulgar clips are enough to unleash a monster within the gullible and vulnerable children and you can imagine the lasting impression of such material on young minds. Some have become chat freaks and games addicts, something unimaginable before Covid struck a deadly blow.

Sirs and Madams, you ought to be wary of their behavioural changes wherein adaptability to the 'newer' environs would be a challenge in itself for the students and you all. Please keep a tab on every student till the end of the year without abusing them physical or mentally.

At this critical times, a teacher's job is more than that of a soldier who guards our borders against enemy forces or a doctor who treats ailments, a farmer who grows our food and the policemen who secures our life. An extra effort from your side is needed to bridge the gaps created by continous closure of schools and the lopsided online education.

Let me remind you about the 'Happiness Curriculum' that has been implemented successfully by the Delhi government to promote development in cognition, language, literacy, numeracy and arts. Don't you think that we need to take a leaf out of it? The future citizens need to be 'mindful, aware, awakened, empathetic and deeply-rooted in their identity.'

Our State governments may have inhibitions and political limitations in emulating the praiseworthy curriculum but nothing prevents you from taking cue in the best interests of your students.

The new Education Policy-2020 rightly points out that learning should be holistic, integrated, enjoyable and engaging but I found that there is no proper direction to you, the teaching community, at ground level. You need to go beyond policies, prescriptions and rhetoric to prepare a robust future generation for India.

Starting from this auspicious day, dear teachers, I think you need to take care of five crucial issues--Smile-Manners-Innovation-Language-Engagement, SMILE in short.

First, make them smile. More than knowledge, our kids need to get the smile back and a hearty laughter that can bury the days of turmoil and help script a new chapter. Rattled by the Covid-induced fear, parents, siblings and neighborhoods cut short their hours of merriment. Many of them reportedly faced the wrath of frustrated family members.

Forget about the syllabus for a couple of days and make them understand the new normal while acclimatising to the Covid-appropriate behaviour.

First and foremost, understand that kids love to spend most of their school time in the playground. Kindly, allow them to play and unwind themselves. It is a proven fact that indulging in sports activities isa great stress-buster and immunity-booster. Physical Education teachers should ensure that the Tokyo-2020 euphoria does not die down.

Secondly, teach children manners and etiquette. Technology has brought knowledge to the doorsteps while Google, YouTube and other Apps have emerged as your alternatives. Studies and surveys have revealed that too much exposure to websites and social media platforms have a negative impact on young minds. They are lost in a glut of information, predominantly bad-worse-worst.

You should take the initiative to teach them what technology cannot-that is manners. In the name of providing entertainment, most of the films are spoiling the younger generation and they, sadly, portray teachers as jesters. Social media videos and audio clips are causing enormous damage as I mentioned earlier.

Good manners include maintaining harmonious relations with others; respecting the sentiments of others, especially women and children; showing respect to elders, listening to others before talking, and whole-heartedly appreciating the good work of others without succumbing to jealousy and hatred.

Third, let them innovate. As you are aware, young brains are blessed with new ideas. They may sound illogical and stupid initially but some of those ideas need experimentation. Provide them the space to discuss all ideas with you so that you can direct them to the right path. But if you play spoilsport and don't enthusiastically encourage them then they will shut down the process of thinking and start accepting whatever is presented to them.

A good teacher is one who encourages students to come up with more questions. Headmasters should go the extra mile to conduct science fairs, Math Olympiads and quiz competitions frequently to create a scientific temper and a sense of inquisitiveness among students.

Fourth, focus on their language. The biggest problem that the student community faces is lack of proper linguistic and communication skills. Language teachers should keep this in mind and evolve strategies to brush up their soft-skills. Let us wriggle out of the great language dilemma and make our kids perfect in Telugu, English and Hindi to start with. Let them master all four types of communication- intra-personal, inter-personal, group and mass communication.

Over exposure to internet and social media demand excellent mass communication skills too. Increase the number of guest lectures and expert visits to your schools to improvise communication skills of your students. This area, so crucial for one's personality development, has been neglected by successive governments. We should give priority from now on in schools and colleges.

Fifth, keep them engaged, all through. Tap the latent creative talent. As you engage your wards at home, engage students in such a way that you unearth an inner talent that is waiting to be tapped. Constant engagement with students is a national duty. Only teachers can effectively discharge this.

I end this piece with a live example. A teacher, like you, took a class for fifth standard students on the mechanism behind birds flying. The teacher addressed students for 25 minutes on the subjects but none of the students could get a grasp of it. The teacher realized the problem and took the class to a nearby beach to make them observe birds keenly in order to assimilate the theory's essence. The lesson left an indelible impression on students. Highly motivated by the class, a student on that very day decided that he would study something to do with flight.

Can you guess who the boy was? He is none other than India's Missile Man Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and the teacher was Siva Subramania Iyer. "That one incident where my teacher encouraged me to ask questions and showed visual examples proved to be a turning point in my life, which eventually shaped my profession," Kalam recalled later. Not ironically, his thought-provoking autobiography is titled 'Wings of Fire'. It shows the power of a real guru!

Dear teachers, your class is full of dreamers like Kalam. Pick them up and nurture them. You have the capacity to ignite minds with your attitude, behaviour and teaching. In order to help build a robustIndia, you need to keep igniting minds. That is incredible power that teachers possess! I wish you all the very best.

(The author, a PhD in Communication and Journalism, is a senior journalist, journalism educator and communication consultant)

(The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of The Hans India)