New Delhi: A professor of Economics from Bangalore University, a lecturer from Christ University who teaches architecture, a lecturer from Mysore who uses experiential learning methods, as well as a teacher from a government school in Bangalore Rural are among the awardees of the National Teachers’ Awards conferred by President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday.
In all, 82 educators received the awards. The Department of School Education and Literacy under the Ministry of Education, selected 50 teachers from 28 States, 3 UTs and 6 organisation. Of these, 34 awardees are males, 16 are female, and 2 are differently abled. In addition, 16 teachers from the Department of Higher Education and 16 teachers from the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship were also awarded.
While conferring the awards, President Murmu stressed on the importance of teachers and how they can play an important role in shaping society.
“Teachers have made wonderful efforts to increase the interest of children in studies. They have found new and interesting methods of teaching, have used new technology, have contributed in making education inclusive. Across the country, countless teachers are working with devotion. It is not possible to award everyone. On behalf of all the countrymen, I thank the teacher community for their extraordinary efforts,” the President said.
Among the awardees are a teacher from a middle school in Tamil Nadu’s Rajakuppam who has authored 20 books, another teacher from Odisha who developed over 200 learning tools, and a lecturer from Mizoram who used VR to encourage fitness.
From Karnataka, the awardees include Dr SR Keshava from Bangalore University who teaches economics and Dr Anitha Suseelan who heads the School of Architecture at Christ University who were conferred the award by the department of higher education.
The awards citation for Dr Keshava stated that he was awarded for recognising the importance of experiential learning. “ … he organises outreach activities and visits to industries, start-ups and farmlands, providing students with first-hand exposure to real-world economic scenarios. To supplement classroom learning, he provides students with comprehensive reading lists and utilises ICT-based teaching methods, including online resources such as YouTube videos and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs),” the citation read.
Suseelan was awarded because she pioneered the Rural Studio Program Mission for academia, outreaching rural India, innovating architectural higher education pedagogy through experiential learning.
“She fosters skilling students, harnessing local resources and labour and environmentally low impact, innovative modular design for ecologically and socially sensitive sites,” her award citation stated.
Additionally, HN Girish of the Mysuru-based Government PU College for Girls was awarded for his innovative teaching methods. “His unique techniques including incorporating games, rangoli competitions, and card-based techniques, has transformed complex biological concepts into enjoyable experiences for his students,” the government said in a release.
Narayanaswamy R of the Government Higher Secondary School at Doddaballapur for utilising community engagement in school development. “By fostering strong partnerships with Village Education Committees, he has implemented comprehensive strategies to enhance enrolment and reduce dropout rates,” the jury noted.
The President also said that teaching is a “sacred mission of human development”.
“Teachers usually pay special attention to students who perform well in exams. But academic performance is only one dimension of excellence. A child can be a very good player. A child has leadership skills. A child enthusiastically participates in social welfare activities. Such dimensions should also be appreciated. A teacher has to identify the best talent in each child and bring it out,” she said.