World Teachers' Day is annually held on October 5 worldwide. According to UNESCO, the day represents a significant token of the awareness, understanding and appreciation displayed for the vital contribution that teachers make to education and development.
In Afghanistan, apart from the official symbolic celebratory events, there is no wider public awareness about the role of teachers in society. Despite the fact that traditionally, teachers have a high position of esteem theoretically due to religious and cultural significance emphasized, but practically teachers are one of the most neglected professionals in our country, who get the least of salary and social respect.
In Western world, teaching is a very honorable profession and teachers have respected reputation. But it's the opposite in our country. It has become a profession where people try luck for the purpose of employment after being failed in other areas.
A teacher's average salary in Afghanistan is about 5000 Afghanis (100 USD) per month. He has to pay rent, utility expenses, education expense of children and other family spending within that amount in such high inflation. How can one meet the month's end in such skyrocketing price hike is a mystery itself.
The Government should pay attention to the plight of teachers. Their pay should be increased and a proper system introduced for the mechanism. In many provinces, teachers get their salaries months later than the actual date.
Our education sector is a disaster. Teachers still apply the century-old teacher-centric methodology that trains students to say "yes" all the time. They have no creative intellect in such a system. Students cram the books, but do not understand it. They are taught for exams, not practical sake of understanding. They have no vision out of their text books. Most of the teachers are untrained and non-professional.
Most of them have not completed their school graduation. Professional teachers that complete their graduation from Kabul University in Teaching Profession are reluctant to join the unattractive profession in the country, where they are not paid salaries for months.
With lack of Government interest and incentives, they take it for the sake of job and a financial support, thus the entire system rolls around this disaster-circle. The Government should pay serious attention to education sector in general and the plight of teachers in particular. Education reform should be a top priority agenda, but unfortunately this sector gets the least spending in budget.