Sometime between the eras of 1500 to 200 BC, and more than 900 years before the advent of Islam in the subcontinent, Manusmriti, the law book of social norms of the Hindus was written.
It instructs its readers to touch the feet of their teachers before the lesson begins, to avoid sitting on their chairs, and to stand up to meet and salute them every time they enter the room.
Thus was born the Aryan empire which gave us the Kushan dynasty, the makers of 'shalwar kameez', the architects of Gandhara Empire and the creators of the Sanskrit language.
From within the Islamic history – Hazrat Ali (R.A) had stated:
I am a slave to anyone who ever taught me even a single word.
Historians further record that the two sons of the 12th century king Haroon-ur-Rasheed (himself a man of many virtues and vices simultaneously), would compete in order to hold the slippers of their teacher after he ended his prayers to help him put his feet inside the shoes.
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Muslim scholars and scientists of the epoch gave us Snell’s law, Algebra and an understanding of optics, besides Ibn-e-Jaafer’s myriad contributions to chemistry, and Avicenna’s canon of medicine, which was the Bible of medicine until the 18th century, even in western universities.
Then, the Renaissance happened in Italy, and the foundations of growth and prosperity which were laid, continue to date. The respect which the Italians associate with the profession of teaching shine through the following anecdote from the life of well-known intellectual, Ashfaq Ahmed during his stay in Rome.
Ashfaq says that having been caught up in the routine everyday hustle, he was once unable to pay off his traffic ticket in due time and was therefore summoned to the court. When the judge asked him why he was unable to pay the fine, Ashfaq explained that he was a teacher and that his workload had prevented him from taking the time out to do it. Hearing this, the judge announced to all present that there is a teacher in the court; everyone including the judge himself stood up in respect, and Ashfaq’s ticket was struck out.
Three civilisations, three different regions and essentially the same lesson: Respect your teachers if you want to flourish as a society and emerge as a consolidated power.
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Teaching itself, being a very thankless job, teachers get their motivation for just these two reasons:
They’re helping shape the destinies of their pupils, and that they're respected for doing so.
Enter private schools and the 'modern education system' of Pakistan, and both of these have diminished to a great extent.
I vividly remember one of my own male O' levels teachers crying with tears, having been caught up in between the Scylla of rowdy, rambunctious children and the Charybdis of the administrative grind which prevented him from even scolding his students for the purpose of disciplining them.
I'm no fan of teachers grounding students, but sometimes, the need for it outweighs the requirement to give students a free hand. A bit of negative reinforcement, in the words of psychologist Skinner, can go a long way in ensuring that children behave themselves.
More important than the punishment for children, however, is the need for the parents to show equal reverence for this profession. Since they are the primary role models that children take inspiration from.
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There is no dearth of overzealous parents continuously reminding the children that their teachers owe their wages to them, or even shouting at the teachers with their children in tow after the ladlas have failed to produce expected results.
This provides a potent avenue to these chota nawabs to shift blame, and project their own failures as the teachers', despite the fact that most of their respectful, attentive peers had easily tamed the same metaphoric beasts of subjects.
Until the parents become a proactive part of the teacher-student-parent trinity, and until teachers end up getting the respect they deserve, quality education will remain a far-fetched dream.
Force-feeding knowledge into children when they are dismissive of the work being put in by the teachers can only serve to create hostility amongst the students and the teacher.
A barren land would not produce fruits regardless of the quality of seeds being sown.
The teacher’s job is done by being diligent, it must not come at the stake of his or her own self-respect.