Teachers' Day

May 16 has been declared as Teachers' Day and is celebrated to honor the teachers who have worked hard to nurture the youth of the country.Very few know how Teachers' Day started.Actually the celebration of Teachers' Day was started by the Mission Schools long before the govt. did it and spoilt the spirit of the Day.When we first celebrated The Day the students would make little presentations for their teachers and would give little gifts like cards,chocolates ,flowers and whatever.There would be fun games between the teachers and the students and we all had fun playing football,basketball,badminton against the students.That night there would be a party for the teachers where there was dancing ,eating and drinking.At the end of it all you went home feeling good as a teacher.
Today ,this has changed>Schools do have their own Teachers'Day celebration but its more ritualistic than a day really dedicated to the teachers.What is worse the Ministry has its own version of Teachers Day at District,State and national level where the spirit of the day is not there anymore.They have speeches,formal dinners with VIPs who hog the limelight instead of the teachers and what more they have an award called "Tokoh Guru" which is awarded to two or three teachers every year as a tribute to their contribution to education.I do not want to comment on the nomination and selection procedure but certainly I feel that many good teachers have been left out.Just 2 or 3 outstanding teachers? Hard to believe!
When I organized Teachers Day for my District I called upon all the retired teachers to attend and they were all treated as VIPs.Each one was given a small bouquet of flowers when they stepped into the hall ...They were the VIPs not some stupid political figure.We had one singer who sang a special song by the BeeGees "Dont forget to remember" and I told the singer while he sang the song to go round the ViP retired teachers and shake their hands.Many were so touched that they had tears in their eyes and at the end many came to thank me and said "Thank you for remembering us".That was teachers day where we remembered our teachers then and now ,not the hoo ha which they make teachers go through nowadays .That is what happens when simple events become politicized Let Teachers Day be celebrated in the respective schools ,let the students show their appreciation to their teachers in their own way..that is what Teachers' Day is all about.