A discarded piece of material can become a model. A classroom can become a laboratory. And a government-school teacher can turn a school in Maloya Colony into a space where children do much more than reading about science, they experience it.
For 44-year-old science teacher Ravi Kumar Jaiswal, this has been a years-long experiment. At Government Model High School, Maloya Colony, he has created a 3D dome theatre, science and knowledge park, weather station, child-centric laboratory and a science lab on a cart. Jaiswal says the ideas and creations behind these initiatives are his own.
That approach has now earned him the National Teachers’ Award 2026. Jaiswal is among 48 teachers selected for the national honour and received the award from President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi on Teachers’ Day. He is the sole recipient from Chandigarh this year.
But the award is only the latest milestone in a record that stretches back more than a decade. For 11 consecutive years, students from his school have been selected for the Rashtriya Bal Vaigyanik Pradarshani, organised by NCERT, and have reached the national level.
The impact of that exposure has gone beyond competitions. One of his students has travelled to Japan under the Sakura Science Exchange Programme, giving a government-school child an opportunity to participate in an international science exchange.
{{/usCountry}}The impact of that exposure has gone beyond competitions. One of his students has travelled to Japan under the Sakura Science Exchange Programme, giving a government-school child an opportunity to participate in an international science exchange.
{{/usCountry}}Jaiswal has also taken his approach outside his own school. As a member of a scientific literacy group, he has contributed to efforts to make science accessible through a cartoon-based magazine, featuring a character called “Harshit” to connect scientific concepts with children.
He also teaches science to students from Classes 6 to 10 through PM eVIDYA, taking lessons to children across the country through the national digital education platform.
From a weather station and a laboratory on wheels to a dome theatre built using scrap, Jaiswal’s work reflects a simple idea: Science education does not have to wait for expensive infrastructure. Sometimes, it begins with a teacher willing to build it himself.
My aim has always been to make science something that children can see, touch and experience, rather than something they only read in a textbook, said Jaiswal.