SHOULD STUDENTS BE ALLOWED TO GRADE THEIR TEACHERS: Essay

SHOULD STUDENTS BE  ALLOWED TO GRADE THEIR TEACHERS

The educational field is suffering from the lack of quality and lack of desired standard. Luck of training and insincerity among the teachers, their high absenteeism rate has made it necessary to think over about the system of their effective evaluation. Many argue that the teachers should be evaluated by the students themselves. But, many argue against the notion. Some people fear that children are not mature enough to grade their teachers and this system will hamper the teacher-student relationship and it will not, render any desirable results.

Evaluation by students will be a breakthrough in maintaining quality in education, some have opined very enthusiastically. The students can tell what
they did not understand, comment on lack of aids and teacher’s punctuality. The quality of a teacher can best be gauged by a student. Students can also

comment on whether they are getting any time for recreational activities or extra-curricular activities. By this way not only the quality of education will improve, but also the extra money which the parents spend on tuitions and coaching’s can be saved.

Furthermore, it will enhance accountability and responsibility extra-curricular activities. They will now be concerned more about the comprehension and understanding of students than completing the courses. The teachers will be aware that they will be judged directly by the students, leading to better teaching standards. The students, equipped by the opportunity to evaluate the teachers, will be more passionate for their studies. They will be assured of quality education and a fair worth of their time and money. The grading by students will help them keep a check on the teachers who are not sincere to their duties and the task assigned to them.

But, we should also see whether school kids are mature enough to grade their teachers? Kids are young and inexperienced. They may not be able to judge and justify their grading correctly whether a certain teacher is good for them or not. School kids have a very shallow intelligentsia and a little caliber. They cannot understand what is wrong or what is right for them too, then how their evaluation can be just and fair. They may like or dislike their teachers depending upon the amount of homework he/she gives, the easiness of his tests, the leniency of the marking, their appearance, temper and such other things that appeal to the students and make the teacher a “favourite” among kids but do not generally reveal his effectiveness. Grading based upon such notion will not yield the required and desired results. The grading may motivate the teachers to score better to such students who lead the class, as their grade may be likely to spell the course of their teaching career. They may lead them to focus more on getting the better grades rather than focusing on teaching the students with sincerity.

Grading is not a task that could be assigned to children. Giving them such power to grade their teachers will also give them the opportunity to misuse it for their interest. They may lose respect for their teachers. It may also pave the way for politics and thus render the whole system paralyzed. Also, it may lead to students being penalized for having given bad grades to some teacher. They may have to face the consequences for having dared to give low grades.

But, we can use the system with certain modifications. First of all, instead of grading, feedback from the students must be taken and that too anonymously, and the feedback forms must be designed so prudently that anyone can answer the questions well. We can also have grading or feedback from the parents and it all should be very confidential. The reflection of the parents’ wisdom in the feedback or grading form will make the system as useful as it can be. The involvement of parents can give fruitful results.

The feedback form should also include some important features like; behaviour-helping or rude, language – polite or abusive, temper, the way he keeps the class disciplined, his punctuality, and utilization of time, paying attention to the whole class and not to some students in particular and fair attitude to all students. The school administration should also see that they are able to differentiate the right feedback from the wrong feedback.

To analyze the response from the students and the performance of the teachers, an independent committee must be formed that can handle the task of evaluation properly. The teachers showing the best and the most improved performance should be duly awarded by the authorities. At all cost, grading teachers by the intrepid students contains many ill effects including the formation of a revengeful cloud on the teachers. Hence, evaluation by the students to grade their teachers is not a reasonable and appropriate proposition.