✒️ :. Saqib Faisal Naik
Trade unionism is an essential part of a democratic system. Employee forums play a vital role in representing staff, raising their concerns before the authorities, and safeguarding their rights. There is no denying that many genuine employee issues have been resolved because of their efforts.
However, leadership carries a responsibility that extends beyond employee welfare. A forum representing the Education Department must also become a voice for schools, students, and the quality of education. After all, the welfare of teachers and the welfare of schools are not competing priorities, they are inseparable.
In Jammu & Kashmir, the number of teacher forums has grown far beyond the administrative categories of teachers within the department. Rather than strengthening unity, this has often fragmented the workforce and shifted attention away from the department’s primary mission quality education.
Almost every forum proudly describes itself as democratic one on paper and across social media. But democracy is not merely a label; it is reflected in accountability, responsibility, and service to the larger cause. If forums vigorously pursue employee issues but remain silent when schools suffer, classrooms remain vacant, or learning standards decline, then their democratic commitment remains incomplete.
No one disputes that employee welfare deserves attention, and some service-related issues will always exist. But the condition of the Education Department deserves the same urgency. Forum leaders regularly visit offices to pursue employee matters. They should visit those same offices with equal determination to advocate for adequate staffing, better infrastructure, improved learning outcomes, and stronger schools. More importantly, they should lead in schools with the same passion and commitment with which they lead in offices. Leadership is not confined to corridors of administration; its true strength is reflected in classrooms.
Another trend also deserves thoughtful reflection. Routine administrative events, transfers, promotions, or the joining of officers are increasingly marked by celebrations, as though routine official processes were extraordinary achievements. Respect for officers is a healthy professional value, but when ceremonial praise becomes more visible than concern for primary responsibility, we must ask ourselves: Are we celebrating the system, or strengthening it? The greatest honour we can offer any officer is not a grand reception, but a school that functions better because of our collective efforts.
Every forum leader should also remember where their journey began. The schools that made them teachers deserve their first loyalty. If those very schools are in bad conditions, dysfunctional, or struggling to provide quality education, then leadership must pause, reflect, and first fulfil its most fundamental responsibility, to help restore and strengthen them. Otherwise, how sincere the advocacy for employee welfare may be, it risks being perceived as little more than an eyewash.
The true measure of leadership is not how many offices one visits, how many photographs one appears in, or how many service matters one resolves. It is how many schools are strengthened, how many teachers are inspired to give their best, and how many children’s futures are protected.
This is not a criticism of any individual or forum. It is a sincere appeal for introspection. The Education Department belongs not only to its employees but also to millions of children whose future depends upon it. If education becomes our shared cause, employee welfare will naturally become stronger as well.
A truly successful forum is not one that is known only for protecting employees, it is one that also protects the classrooms that made those employees teachers. That is the leadership our Education Department needs, and that is the legacy worth leaving behind.
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