Teachers’ Day…

...or Teachers’ Decade?

Hello all. Welcome to the 130th edition of TEPS Weekly! 

Every year, Teachers’ Day comes around with a familiar rhythm. Children make cards, school leaders deliver speeches, and communities pause to express gratitude. It is a day to say thank you to those who guide young minds. Yet, if we look closer at the history and meaning of Teachers’ Day, and compare it with the lived reality of teachers in India, it becomes clear that respect must go beyond symbolic gestures. It must translate into professional recognition, agency and systemic change.

India actually has more than one tradition of celebrating teachers.

• Guru Purnima celebrated on the supposed birth anniversary of sage Vyasa, who composed epics like the Mahabharata. 

• India’s Teachers’ Day (5 September) commemorates the birth anniversary of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a philosopher, teacher and India’s second President, and has been celebrated since 1962, in accordance with his wish that the day be dedicated to honouring teachers.

• Savitribai Phule Jayanti is another moment of reflection, though not always formally recognised as a “Teachers’ Day.” Savitribai Phule, often called India’s first female teacher, pioneered education for girls and children from economically and socially marginalised communities. Her life’s work is a reminder that teachers are not just knowledge-givers, but agents of social transformation.

• At the global level, World Teachers’ Day is marked on 5 October. It commemorates the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, which was in fact, the first international framework recognising the rights, responsibilities and standards that should guide the teaching profession. Since 1994, it has been a day to reflect on the importance of teachers worldwide.

Across all these traditions, a common thread runs through: teachers are seen as central to society, deserving of gratitude and respect.

But in India, teachers are often celebrated publicly but constrained privately. For example, the State or Central education boards set rigid syllabi, and the schools then decide which textbooks to use, what resources to use, what content to teach, and even how to teach it. This means that most of the teachers spend their careers repeating the same lessons year after year, with little scope for creativity or professional growth. On Teachers’ Day, they are praised and thanked. The next day, they return to classrooms where their voices and choices remain restricted. Respect without agency can become hollow. True gratitude must address the conditions in which teachers work. 

So today, on one of the Teachers’ Days, instead of limiting ourselves to symbolic celebrations, let us resolve to professionalise teaching in India. This means treating school teaching as we would any other respected profession: with opportunities for growth, recognition of expertise, and systems that support continuous improvement. And thankfully, we are moving in that direction. 

1. Teachers should have agency and choice

Teachers must have a say in how they teach a concept, what teaching materials they would like to use, what pedagogical approach to take and also what professional learning they want to pursue for their own upskilling. However, true support doesn’t come from only having agency and choice. True support is to create an ecosystem that allows agency and informed choice making by teachers.

For example, imagine a situation in which a teacher gets to choose from more than 60 different online courses to upskill themselves, or they can use practical tips from online resources to apply in their classrooms. In such a situation, the teacher has access to resources and a choice of what they want to take up and try out in the classroom.

Teachers’ choice must also extend to the resources that they use in their classrooms. 

For example, if a teacher wants to approach teaching a topic through a project-based learning framework, the teacher should not only be equipped with pedagogical awareness of the approach, but should also be supported with teaching and learning materials (TLMs) needed for this approach.

Of course, teachers should eventually start creating their own TLMs, but till the time they are confident, there should be platforms that can handhold teachers into upskilling and approaching new methods of teaching.

2. Teachers should be able to see their professional development path

In most professions like medicine, engineering, law and so on, career growth is mapped carefully. There are structured tracks, research-based training, and milestones for growth. Why should teaching be different?

For example, professional development must be continuous and planned. Training material and development programmes must be backed by research. Teachers should have their own learning tracks and have clear annual goals with supportive feedback systems, so they know how they are growing year by year. This approach ensures that teaching becomes a profession of lifelong learning.

3. Teachers should be seen as academics and not administrators

Too often, teachers are asked to manage book distribution, monitor uniforms or handle clerical work. While schools need organisation, these tasks should not fall on those whose expertise lies in pedagogy. A teacher’s core role is to understand how children learn, to prepare lessons and to reflect on teaching. Every hour spent on administrative duties is an hour taken away from learning preparation. Schools should create dedicated systems and staff for these tasks, allowing teachers to focus on what they do best.

For example, if there is an education conference which is asking for teachers to share their experiences and expertise in the form of some research or data, they should use their time outside of the classroom on such endeavours. 

And very recently, organisations in India have started looking at giving teachers such opportunities, which is a step in the right direction.

4. Teachers should have established professional standards

Teachers need adequate time not only to teach but also to plan, prepare and reflect. Teaching is not just the 40 minutes in the classroom but also includes preparation before and analysis after. 

Not only are teachers expected to work outside of work hours, but also are expected to do this for tasks outside the realm of their expertise (as mentioned earlier). And to top it off, salaries in India often do not match the expectations placed on teachers. There needs to be some sort of correction on teachers’ salaries and compensation structure. 

For example, having a community of teachers where they can freely discuss what compensation is fair in a given area or city should be a commonplace in supporting teachers. And thankfully, we are seeing organisations coming up and trying to put this word out there to support teachers. Because in the long run, if education is to attract and retain talented professionals, compensation must be fair, competitive and linked to growth opportunities.

Speaking of growth opportunities, when a teacher teaches well, the reward is less teaching and more administrative work. And if the teachers do not want to take up more administrative work, they are stuck in the same role and growth is unrealistic. There is a need to create opportunities for teachers to grow beyond just administrative tasks for the school. 

For example, say a teacher teaches really well and students are fond of them. The way they get rewarded is that they become some sort of subject head or section head. This means that the amount of time that they were thinking about teaching and learning will go down. So the teacher does what she doesn’t like for a longer time, and the overall standard of teaching in the school comes down. This is not sustainable. There need to be opportunities for teachers to use their academic knowledge, for professional growth and exposure. Thankfully, there are organisations that are creating spaces for teachers to share their research with the rest of the world. 

Teachers should not feel stuck. There should be opportunities to grow into mentoring, leadership, curriculum design or research roles, without having to leave the classroom entirely.

Many teachers already enter the profession with a deep sense of purpose in shaping young minds. And this type of support and opportunity will help them sustain a growth mindset. When teachers feel that they can learn, improve and innovate, their students benefit the most.

Teachers’ Day – whether we mark it on Guru Purnima, Savitribai Phule’s birth anniversary, 5 September, or 5 October – has always been about showing respect and gratitude. But respect cannot stop at ceremonies and speeches. True respect means changing the structures that limit teachers. It means giving them the freedom to teach with creativity, the support to keep learning, and the compensation that reflects their value. 

And in the spirit of creating such spaces for teachers, we have come up with our membership-based platform TEPS Staffroom. Check it out! There are ~100 courses, tons of teaching learning materials (TLMs) – from printable worksheets to slides to lesson plans to storybooks. There is a lot on the platform, so take your time to go through all the different resources available. The number of resources will only keep growing as our team keeps creating and putting up new and practical stuff all the time.

TEPS Staffroom is a membership, and it is affordable! A quarterly subscription costs less than a pair of jeans! Teachers are always celebrated with respect and gratitude. We wanted to show our respect by making their lives better through agency, access and a community.

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Edition: 4.37