Evolving needs
AT a recent conference, an interesting question arose regarding the differences in the needs of students in rural and urban areas. Perhaps the biggest challenge faced by teachers in our rural and urban classrooms is limited individual attention resulting from large classes. The problem is compounded by mixed ability (and mixed age groups in rural classrooms). Not many teachers have access to training that helps them navigate these challenges.
Another equally big challenge is implementing strategies to make a significant departure from teacher-led classrooms based on lecture methods. Teachers in both rural and urban areas have struggled to make the shift towards more student-centred approaches such as inquiry-based lessons with hands-on work. Keeping students engaged is a struggle for teachers in both urban and rural areas. Distractions are rampant and teacher expertise is put to the test when students do not show commitment towards academic achievement.
Both rural and urban teachers address students who struggle with the language of instruction — usually compounded by the teachers’ own lack of expertise in it. The language of instruction becomes a big enough barrier to completing the curriculum and achieving the desired results, and often causes teacher burnout. A fallout with the management usually follows. The ripple effect of unaddressed challenges, misalignment with teachers’ professional development needs and the massive curriculum workload are common culprits inhibiting teachers’ progress. With disgruntled teachers wading through realms of text to make it to the end of term, many students fall through the cracks.
Professional development programmes that align management and teachers’ goals can help both rural and urban teachers. This is especially important as most schools ‘teach to the test’ and the pressure for academic results grows each year. Consequently, professional development programmes stress result-oriented teaching.
Many students end up with a vacuum in skills.
Most professional development programmes focus on urgent priorities such as student learning outcomes, lesson planning and teaching approaches, while teacher and student well-being remains on the back-burner. Many teachers struggle with social emotional challenges, having to juggle work and family, and lack avenues for guidance. The oxygen-mask theory is not new. Teachers need to cater to their own well-being first to be equipped to support their students.
Teacher well-being is particularly under threat in a world where technology is evolving at a dizzying pace, where digital skills are high in demand, and information overload is burying motivation. Social emotional well-being training is paramount for teachers to meet the demands of students’ evolving needs through their own resilience and adaptability to the environment. While it is true that ‘students have changed’ in many ways, it is futile to lament that change. As this change is impacting teachers worldwide — and is agnostic to the rural-urban divide —growth and progress lie in devising innovative ways to navigate the unfolding challenges.
Digital literacy is not just an option; it is a need. Besides teaching students how to use online tools responsibly, teachers now have to cultivate students’ resilience through massive workloads and conflicting schedules. Through these demands, they are also required to keep a close eye on personalised learning so that no student is left behind.
As the needs of students expand to include goals that are beyond immediate curriculum requirements, it is not just teaching that needs to be reassessed but also the relevance of the curriculum. If the curriculum is aligned closely with real-life application, practical skills and technological expertise, our students will find themselves better equipped to use their learning to develop future readiness. Without this focus on future skills, it is not entirely clear what the teaching and learning goals are designed for.
Many students, regardless of their geographical or economic background, step out of schools and colleges with a vacuum in skills, scrambling to meet the demands of a cut-throat world where they sink or swim depending on the opportunities they are fortunate enough to come by. Not all firms provide on-the-job training; in fact, fresh graduates are expected to deliver from the get-go as they step into the professional world.
Their need for direction often remains unmet as most school systems thrive on one-size-fits-all frameworks that don’t often manage to provide personalised skill development, nor do they have monitoring frameworks to keep a tab on progress. It is time to allow our students’ changing needs to lead educational strategy, not the other way around.
The writer is a teacher educator, author and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK.
X: @nedamulji
Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2026