President of India Confers National Awards on Teachers

The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu conferred National Awards on  teachers from across the country at a function held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi today (September 5, 2023) on the occasion of Teachers’ Day. Union Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State, Ministry of Education Smt. Annapurna Devi; Minister of State, Ministry of Education, Dr. Subhas Sarkar; Minister of State, Ministry of Education, Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh; Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology, and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar; Secretary, Higher Education, Shri K. Sanjay Murthy; Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, Shri Sanjay Kumar; Secretary, MSDE Shri Atul Kumar Tiwari also graced the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that elementary education has fundamental importance in everyone's life. She added that many educationists speak about the three-H formula for the balanced development of children in which the first H is Heart, the second H is Head and the third H is Hand. She shared that heart is related to sensitivity, human values, strength of character and morality. She added that head or brain is related to mental development, reasoning power & reading and hand is related to respect for manual skills and physical labour. She said that all-round development of children would be possible only by emphasizing on such a holistic approach.

The President emphasised that in view of the women participation in teaching profession, the number of female teachers receiving Teachers' awards should be higher. Encouraging female students and teachers is very important for women empowerment, she emphasized.

The President said that teachers build the future of the nation. She added that quality education is considered as the fundamental right of every child and role of teachers is the most important in achieving these goals. She added that the importance of teachers as nation-builders has also been clearly stated in the National Education Policy 2020.

The President said that it is the duty of teachers as well as  parents to recognize the unique abilities of each child and help the child to develop those abilities with sensitivity. She said that every parent wants their child to be given special attention and treated with affection . Parents hand over their children to teachers with great trust. She added that it is a great privilege for every teacher to get the opportunity to share love among the  children of a class.

The President said that everyone remembers their teachers. She added that the praise, encouragement or punishment that children get from teachers remains in their memories. She said that if children are punished with the intention of bringing improvement in them, they realize it later. She added that giving love and affection to children  is more important than giving them knowledge.

The purpose of National Teachers’ Award is to celebrate the unique contribution of teachers in the country and to honor those teachers who, through their commitment and dedication, have not only improved the quality of education but also enriched the lives of their students. Each award carries a certificate of merit, a cash award of Rs. 50,000 and a silver medal. The awardees  also get an opportunity to interact with Hon’ble Prime Minister.

Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education has been organising a National level function on Teachers Day every year to confer the National Awards to the best teachers of the country, selected through a rigorous, transparent selection process. From this year, the ambit of National Teachers’ Award has been expanded to include teachers of Department of Higher Education and Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship. 50 School Teachers, 13 teachers from Higher education and 12 teachers from Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship were  awarded this year.

With a view to recognize innovative teaching, research, community outreach and novelty of work the nominations were sought in online mode to maximize participation (Jan Bhagidari).The Education Minister  constituted three separate Independent National Jury comprising of eminent persons for selection of teachers.