1. THE TEACHER IS A CATALYST FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
A flourishing national development and a society truly prosperous with knowledge all begins
from its teachers. Thus, teachers are undoubtedly among the most significant contributors to
education for national development. Datuk Seri Najib Razak once defined a teacher as an
educator who determines the future of our children and that of our country. A catalyst on the
other hand is a person or thing that precipitates an event or change. This being the case, the
teacher can thus be described as a catalyst for national development because they bear a great
responsibility to produce the right kind of behaviour and skills, not only to create jobs but also to
fill-up positions so created. They also build up the character of the next generation, thus a
nation's development.
In the past, parents and teachers both used to make the best of their effort to provide an
atmosphere to their children congenial to the development of higher virtues and morals. But the
gross social change over the last 50 years, large scale urbanization, ruthless competition for
financial gains and heavy preoccupation in everyday life depletes all time and energy from
parents, leaving behind little time or energy for them to monitor their children. As a result, the
younger generation hardly gets any opportunity to share ideas with their elders or enter into a
meaningful discussion. This is where the teacher comes in. Individual teacher qualities, character
, qualifications and professional competence are the cornerstones on which successful national
development and education ultimately depends.
Teachers are the main tool that advance or catalyzes education. Without them, education has
no meaning in national development. In the same way, knowledge received without a teacher's
guidance can be compared to a blind man walking without his sticks. This is why teachers as a
community are the primary tool for the actualization of the transformation agendas of the
government as they impart knowledge that develop the human resources. The teacher is a judge
who gives marks and ratings. He differentiates children on the basis of their intellectual and
social skills in preparation for the social and occupation roles in which they eventually play. A
teacher is a counsellor, who counsels children and parents with regards to appropriate school
courses and employment possibilites. The teacher is the representative of the society who
inculcates moral precepts. Thus, in the development of a country, great attention has to be paid to
education and learning, as well as good morals and nobody is more suited to catalyst this process
as "the teacher". Without the teacher, both knowledge and morals would suffer.

2. The role of the teacher is multi-faceted, comprising academic, pedagogical and social roles.
The academic role comprises teaching, counselling and supervisory roles. The pedagogical roles
includes instructional, evaluation and facilitating roles. The teacher as a facilitator is involved on
motivating pupils to learn, maintaining classroom and school control and creating a condusive
environment for learning to take place. Social roles includes socializing activities which prepare
students for the society's way of life. Other roles include reference roles, detective roles, parent
surrogate, confidant and affectionate roles. Thus, no other personality can have an influence
more profound than that of a teacher. Students are in fact deeply affected by the teacher's love
and affection, his character, his competence and his moral commitment. Most teachers become
models for their pupils. They try to follow her manners, customs, etiquette, style of conversation
e.t.c. .
It should however be noted that during the early education of students, they tend to determine
their aims in life and their future in consultation with their teachers. Therfore, a corrupt and
decadent class of teachers can harm a nation more seriously than a class of corrupt and perverted
judiciary, army, police, bureaucracy , politicians or technocrats. Hence, a corrupt and
incompetent teacher is not only a bad individual but also the harbinger of a corrupt and
incompetent generation and nation at large. A nation with corrupt teachers is a nation at risk,
every coming day announces the advert of its approaching destruction.
In conclusion, the importance of a teacher as a catalyst to national development and as an
architect of our future generations demand that only the best and most intelligent and competent
members of our intelligentsia be allowed to qualify for this noble profession, bearing in mind
that the quality of a nation cannot exceed the quality of its education system and its teachers.