Geeta delves into the demanding yet rewarding world of teaching, highlighting the demanding schedule, lesson planning, grading, extracurricular activities, and constant student engagement, exclusively for Different Truths.

I have heard many people say that it is best to be a teacher. Especially for women. You get holidays for two months, your work will be just teaching small children, you can come home early…

Only when you work as a teacher will you know the amount of work a teacher has to do?

It starts even before the school reopens with orientation programs, distribution of books to students, preparing lists for the attendance register, getting the classrooms ready…

Once school starts, a teacher must do her real work, of teaching. That means he or she must prepare lesson plans, prepare worksheets, assignments and so on. This is followed by correction work. If a teacher is handling five classes with two divisions each, there will be ten sets of everything that has to be corrected.

Some schools give the teachers a greater number of classes. The number of correction bundles increases then. When the examination time comes, the teacher gets busy with preparing question papers and later with invigilation, marking, writing reports… This is the academic part of the profession. One may wish for an assistant, but it does not happen.

Many activities in school require a teacher to be a part of it. Beginning with the independence celebration to project exhibition to sports day to school annual day, many duties are allotted to teachers. Then there are activities such as the literary association, science club, etc. besides interschool activities and competitions where the teachers have to accompany their wards. Teachers must be present when there is an open house or a parent-teacher meeting.

In short, throughout the year a teacher is expected to attend and balance academic work, extracurricular programs and, of course, home. It is a combination of mental and physical work. Therefore, exhaustion is both physical and mental.

At the end of the year, schools may close for students, but not for teachers. There are new admissions, entrance exams or tests that teachers are expected to attend when required.

However, most teachers enjoy their work mainly because they love their students. Once you take up teaching, you will not look for any other job. Once a teacher, forever a teacher. It’s both rewarding and noble.

Picture design by Anumita Roy

Geeta Varma

Geeta Varma is a poet, an author and a journalist based in Chennai. She has worked as a teacher and a freelance journalist for some time. She has to her credit two books of poems and is a regular contributor to a few online magazines. Her next book will be published soon. She lives in Chennai with her husband Shreekumar Varma and has two sons, Vinayak married to Yamini, and Karthik.