Teacher’s Day: A Time to Honour and Rethink the Role of Educators
Teacher’s Day: A Time to Honour and Rethink the Role of Educators Every year on September 5, India celebrates Teacher’s Day in honour of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a teacher, philosopher, and former President of India. The day is meant to pay tribute to educators who shape the future of our society. Yet, while speeches and floral tributes abound, the real plight of teachers remains largely ignored. Recently, the Supreme Court of India delivered several verdicts spotlighting this imbalance. In August 2025, the Court forcefully rebuked the Gujarat government for paying contractual assistant professors a paltry ₹30,000 per month—while their ad-hoc and regular peers earned as much as ₹1.2–1.4 lakh for the same duties. The bench declared that symbolic reverence—chanting “guru brahma, guru vishnu…”—meant little if teachers are not compensated fairly. In another ruling, it invoked the principle of “equal pay for equal work,” directing that contractual assistant professors in Gujarat ...