President Murmu honours 45 Teachers with National Teacher Awards
NEW DELHI, Sept 5:
President Droupadi Murmu on Friday gave the National Teacher Awards to 45 teachers from across the country for their exemplary contribution to teaching and learning.
From novel methods of teaching, dedication to students’ growth to attempts to enhance learning achievements in difficult environments, the awardees were recognised at the annual award ceremony.
Ranging from innovative pedagogy to inspiring first-generation learners, the awardees played a key role in shaping young minds across India.
Among the awardees is M Devananda Kumar, Faculty of Telugu at Dr Lakireddy Hanimireddy Government Degree College, Mylavaram, Andhra Pradesh, who has received the award for his innovative teaching practices.
“His work includes creating thallapatra granthas (palm-leaf manuscripts), producing educational videos for LMS, and earning prestigious accolades for his contributions to education,” his citation read. Similarly, Proshanto Kr Saha,
President Murmu honours
Faculty of Psychology at Rajiv Gandhi Central University, Arunachal Pradesh, has been recognised for his expertise in forensic psychology and neuropsychology, with more than 14 years of academic service.
“He established a Neuropsychology Lab, developed intervention training modules, led major research projects, and extended psychological support to child abuse victims, reflecting his commitment to both academic excellence and social impact,” the citation said.
Ahead of the awards, Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with the National Award-winning teachers. In a light-hearted remark, he said that while teachers usually give homework to students, he wanted to assign one to them—to lead campaigns promoting swadeshi products and strengthen the “Make in India” and “Vocal for Local” movements.
Kuldeep Gupta, a lecturer at Government Higher Secondary School Jindrah in Jammu, is set to receive the National Teachers’ Award on September 5 from President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi. He is the only educator from Jammu and Kashmir to receive this honour on Teachers’ Day.
Born to a modest family in Bishnah, Gupta completed his early schooling in Jammu. His father, Banarsi Lal Gupta, was working for Military Engineering Services (MES), the engineering wing of the Indian Army.
Gupta (57) is the eldest of four siblings, and he has always had an interest in science, which led him to pursue an MSc in Zoology as well as an M.Ed. He started his career as a teacher in 1992 at a school in his native village. Within a few years, he made it a mission to go beyond traditional teaching and boring lectures.
However, he gained popularity among the students and teaching fraternity in 1995 when he was posted in the Government High School, Satwari, where he introduced innovative teaching methods and activity-based science learning. “I wanted students to fall in love with science for the holistic development of students,” he said.
Gupta is also credited with making the Children’s Science Congress popular among government school students. Before 2000, students from only a few private schools would participate in the annual event, but he took the initiative with the help of the Directorate of School Education Jammu (DSEJ) and involved students from government schools as well.
“We aimed to inculcate a scientific temperament among students beyond books. This helped students in research, like identifying the problem at the local level and searching for its solution based on scientific knowledge,” Gupta said.
Due to his efforts, the education department was able to introduce the programme in all 10 districts of the Jammu region, and since then, the Children’s Science Congress has been held in every district, followed by state and national-level competitions with the support of the Science and Technology Department.
In 2009, he was made Academic Coordinator for the Children’s Science Congress of the Jammu region, getting the responsibility to oversee the orientation programmes for teachers and compile an activity book.
Gupta became a resource person for the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) in 2017 and provided training to over 1500 teachers of the Jammu region.
“It was a great opportunity for me to get associated with such prestigious projects. During this time, I also got the chance to proofread NCERT books and worked as coordinator of the National Service Scheme (NSS) and also participated in a national integration camp in Haryana,” Gupta said.
During his service, he has worked in 10 different schools and mostly in schools falling in rural areas of Jammu. Gupta believes that his biggest achievements have been low-cost, no-cost teaching, inculcating a scientific temperament among students and bringing conceptual learning.
“The low-cost and no-cost teaching is a concept which, in the local language, we can say ‘Kabaar Se Jugaar’, in which students are taught how to use localised items in learning science without spending much money on them,” he said. “We don’t require any sophisticated laboratories, and students could make things from materials easily available at their places,” he said.
He has set up a mini lab in the Government Higher Secondary School Jindrah for students to learn with ease. Due to his efforts in conceptual learning, many dropout students return to school.
“I do not do any great things; I simply help students clear their confusion so that they gain interest,” Gupta said.
For his dedication and work in the field of education, Gupta was awarded the Best Teacher Award by the Jammu and Kashmir government in 2021. He has been selected for the National Teachers’ Award on Teachers’ Day for his dedication and hard work.
“I am happy that the government has recognised my efforts, and my family is also happy with this, as they feel that my hard work and dedication are being appreciated, as they knew that my main mission was education,” Gupta said. “This became possible with the support of my students, colleagues and heads of the institutions wherever I worked. Every head of the institution supported me,” he said.
