To be or not to be

KATHMANDU, June 6: Our schools will always be the places we hold fond memories of. Our friends, our classes and our teachers will forever be remembered. Who can deny the strength of friendships started on the school grounds? We had teachers of varying nature and personalities. Some were strict, some charming and some even a bit ‘foolish.’



However, we tried to be on the good side of our teachers. The advantage of it was that we would be believed when we gave up feeble excuses for not presenting our homework, and when we tried to wheedle a few classes worth of attendance from them.[break]



But can teachers and students ever strike up friendships?



Sushant Thapa enthuses, “Absolutely! I believe they can not only be friends but also become quite close. Take my example. I’m good friends with my teacher. We not only talk about the course of syllabus. I think this is due to the fact that there’s not much of a big age gap between us. Also, teachers like sincere and hardworking students who understand their teachers and take them as well wishers, not enemies. Teachers should also be flexible and try to understand the attitude of the students.



From the perspective of a teacher, Anil Shrestha shares, “My experience shows that they can indeed be friends. One of the most essential components in the relation of a student and a teacher is friendship. Sometimes, teachers practice being superior to the students and right at this point, the exchange of ideas stop and pushing of ideas start. But in case of friendship between a teacher and his students, they share more easily and also respect each other more. They are honest to each other and together they can enhance the learning capacity of the students. Students fear hurting their teacher due to the respect they have for him, not because of any stick in hand.”



But some of us would say differently. We may have seen how friendships between a teacher and a student bring up cases of bias and partiality.



Ravi Kathet, 24, a Chartered Accountancy student, says, “Teachers and students can be friends but from my point of view they should not be friends. Teachers will be biased if they befriend their students. And rather than teaching and learning, the importance will be more on the relationship. Teachers should be friendly with their students but not be friends with them.”



The point here is of finding a balance and sticking to it.

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