The Forgotten Teacher

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 The teacher who shapes lives walks away. The one who shapes reports wins

In the corridors of higher education, an uncomfortable truth echoes quietly those who entered teaching with passion, purpose, and a desire to transform young minds are slowly being pushed to the margins. Once celebrated for shaping futures, these teachers now find themselves overshadowed by a new checklist of “success indicators” that have little to do with real education.

Today, the true art of teaching touching lives, inspiring students, and shaping character has been pushed to the back bench. In its place, a competitive race has emerged, driven not by educational values but by publications, consultancy projects, startups, media visibility, and unspoken “management pleasing.”

The Teacher Who Chose Teaching for the Right Reasons

  • There are teachers who stepped into classrooms because they believed in one powerful idea: Education can transform lives.
  • They are the ones who stay after class for struggling students, who mentor, who listen, who encourage. 
  • They are the ones who fuel confidence in young minds, who care deeply about building values, clarity, and purpose.

But in today’s system, these teachers face a painful reality. Their inner calling is no longer enough.

  • Their passion does not count as a metric.

  • Their impact cannot be entered as “proof” in academic audits.

  • Their student success stories can’t be attached as annexures.

  • Their emotional effort isn’t an API score.

And so, slowly, painfully, they find themselves losing in a race they never wanted to run.

The Unseen Weight of Unrealistic Expectations

Higher education today is guided by frameworks and scorecards that often miss the soul of teaching.

Faculty appraisals demand:

  • Unending research publications (regardless of quality or relevance)

  • Consultancy revenue targets

  • Startup involvement

  • Patent filings

  • Media presence

  • Endless documentation

  • Compliance pressures

  • NAAC, NBA, NIRF readiness

  • Institutional marketing and events

A teacher who is busy in the classroom helping students cope, learn, and grow simply does not have the bandwidth to compete with this checklist.

Not because they lack capability but because their time is spent on something more human, more meaningful, and more lasting.

Management’s Dilemma: Numbers vs. Nurturing

Institutions today often celebrate teachers who meet these external benchmarks.

The dashboard looks impressive.

Reports look ambitious.

Rankings look promising.

But somewhere along the way, the heart of education begins to fade.

The Emotional Toll on Passionate Teachers

For the teacher who chose teaching by choice not compulsion the current environment is emotionally exhausting. Many teachers silently struggle with:

  • Feeling undervalued

  • Failing to meet unrealistic expectations

  • Losing confidence in their purpose

  • Contemplating leaving the profession they once loved

  • Watching mediocre practices get rewarded

  • Feeling the pressure of comparison

They are not failing their job...the system is failing them.

What We Stand to Lose

When the system sidelines teachers who genuinely transform students, what do we lose?

  • We lose mentors.

  • We lose human connection.

  • We lose the essence of learning.

  • We lose care, compassion, guidance, and wisdom.

  • We lose the invisible hands that shape responsible, ethical, confident individuals.

A teacher who teaches from the heart can create ripples that last a lifetime. No research metric can measure it. No ranking can capture it.

A Call for Balance

This blog is not an argument against research, consultancy, or innovation.
Those are essential in modern education.
But not at the cost of killing the spirit of teaching.

We need a balance.
We need a system that values both:

  • the teacher who publishes and innovates, and

  • the teacher who inspires and transforms.

Both are essential.
Both are teachers.
Both deserve recognition.

Finally...

The real winners are not always those on the podium. Sometimes, the real winners walk silently with a worn out bag, tired eyes, and a heart full of students’ dreams unrecognized yet unforgettable.

And someday, when those students return as successful human beings, they will know who their true teacher was.

Crafted By:

Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Thalari is a consultant in Learning – Skills training – Development – Coaching, working at different levels of individual personal and professional development. Having around 23.5 years of industry and academic experience, worked at different levels of teaching and skills training. A Doctorate in Business Management, Master graduate in Psychology, Train the Trainer certified, e-Trainer certified, qualified in UGC National Eligibility Test, Qualified in State level eligibility test of Andhra Pradesh and a certified soft skills trainer.

How to reach:

WHATSAPP - 98 49 94 44 17

UNSTOP - https://unstop.com/u/sanjetha88702

BLOGSPOT - https://thalarisanjeevkumar.blogspot.com/

LINKEDIN - https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsanjeevkumarthalari/

GMAIL - thalarisanjeevkumar@gmail.com

FACE BOOK - https://www.facebook.com/thalari.sanjeevkumar

YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/@dr.thalarisanjeevkumar8834

ORCID - https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1634-6017

RESEARCH GATE - https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dr-Thalari

GOOGLE SCHOLAR - https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xKmN5agAAAAJ

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