Every day, a set of smart, talented, brilliant and hardworking individuals wake up with so much determination in their hearts to contribute to making a difference in the world through educating and inspiring the young people entrusted in their care. To the world they are called Teachers but to me they are the “Wisdom Bank”. Whether they teach us Math, English, History, or Science or whether they are just skilled in encouraging us, they not only give us tools to succeed in the various fields we choose, they are also our biggest cheerleaders and fans.
To celebrate and acknowledge the significant contribution of these awesome people towards improving the world, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 1994 declared the 5th of October every year as World Teachers’ Day.
Speaking about her teaching experience with Gundem’s correspondent, Assistant Professor Dr. Nilufer Turksoy, a PhD holder born and raised in Bulgaria with educational background from EMU and other prestigious European Universities said, “ I have been a teacher for 11 years, first I was a research assistant in Amsterdam University, then I moved back to Cyprus and became an assistant professor and lecturer. I love my teaching job, the enthusiasm and eagerness of my students to learn motivates me. I enjoy the fact that my students are interested in learning and ask rather challenging questions. I also love the fact that there is always an international diversity in my classrooms. It helps me also learn about environments I’m not familiar with”. When questioned about her thoughts on World Teachers’ Day, she said, “ I believe education makes the world a better place and without teachers to educate and guide students, the world would be unpleasant, teachers therefore deserve more than the appreciation they get, World teachers Day is a great step towards appreciating them”.
Sebnem Elings, a Cypriot teacher in EMU spoke to Gundem about her thoughts on World Teachers Day, she said, “I have taught Audio visuals and Documentary lessons and teaching has been a great platform for me to share my experience and knowledge with the young generation. It has also been an avenue for me to get connected with the younger generation, get in touch with students from different nationalities and also a way to learn about their diverse cultures. Everyone deserves some form of appreciation for any work they do that is beneficial to mankind and World Teacher’s Day is a good step towards appreciating teachers. I do not earn a lot of money from teaching, however, the eagerness of my students to learn and putting what I teach them into practice is enough motivation for me to want to teach over and over again”.
Teachers’ day also aims to raise an awareness on the importance of teachers all over the world. When asked how they felt about having teachers in their lives, two EMU students spoke about teachers and teachers’ day. Mohammed Fallaha, a Mechatronics student from Syria said, “Teachers do a good job and teach from their hearts, I only wish some of them would change their teaching methods. As a saying in Arabic, Teachers are almost Prophets, they are important and without them the world would be out of order. I think celebrating teachers is wonderful because they sacrifice a lot, they deserve a special day to be appreciated; it is the least we can do to show our gratitude to them”. Bilgehan Talha Galiskan a 2nd year Turkish Architecture student said, “ Getting across information is the greatest thing in the world which not everyone can do properly, however, teachers do a very good job of getting across information properly and motivate you to research for more information. I think it is great that a day has been set aside to appreciate them. They deserve to be celebrated every day and every time.
The responsibility of grooming tomorrow’s leaders is certainly not an easy one and teachers even though knowing how difficult it is still chose to ensure that the needs of the future generation be met.
Someone rightly said, “To teach is to nurture another human being. To all the teachers who have selflessly dedicated their lives to this mission, we salute and honor you for your nobility and passion”. We encourage that we not only celebrate our teachers today but celebrate them every day.
By Jemima Atii
