E-Paper
2 UP teachers make it to 2021 national honours’ list
The two teachers formed part of a list of 44 selected nation-wide to be honoured with the National Awards for Teachers, 2021
Two teachers from Uttar Pradesh have been selected for the National Awards for Teachers, 2021, in the list of 44 teachers nation-wide. They are: Manish Kumar of Junior High School, Shivganj, block Sahar, Auraiya and Tripti Mahaur, Government Girls Inter College Chamruya, Sadar, Rampur.
Manish Kumar, 32, is the only government school teacher of Basic Shiksha Parishad, who has been selected for the award. Manish said that this award is just the start of the long journey he has to make in shaping the lives of thousands of children.
To promote scientific temper among students and to make classroom teaching lively, Manish – a state teacher awardee in 2018 – claims that he developed a science lab, called ILA (informal lab activity with informal lab apparatus) where he encourages students to learn from kabaar se jugaar (trash to treasure). Currently, he is developing a science park to teach students the comparative size of planets (the solar system) when students return to school from August 23.
Manish considers noted educator and retired IIT-Kanpur professor Padamshri HC Verma as his guru and role model. He is in touch with Verma for almost eight years and has attended four national workshops of Utsahi Physics Teachers (NWUPT) conducted by Verma.
According to Manish, a government school teacher must stop cribbing about lack of resources. There are a number of government school teachers who generated resources without government funding and transformed their institution.
“My role model, Prof HC Verma, says a teacher must first fall in love with the subject he or she teaches before expecting students to do the same. Schools are not the place to just score marks. They are the place to empower minds and improve capabilities. The target of education cannot be and should not be to clear board exams or IIT/NEET entrance.”
Manish is a science graduate but he teaches all subjects at the junior high school level. He joined this school in Auraiya as an assistant teacher in September 2016. “There were just 64 children enrolled in the school then. Now, the student strength has increased to 107. There are three teachers in the school,” he said.
The purpose of National Awards for Teachers is to celebrate the unique contribution of some of the finest teachers in the country and to honour those teachers who have not only improved the quality of school education but also enriched the lives of their students, through their commitment and industriousness.
Tripti Mahaur expressed happiness over her selection for the national award saying that it is a recognition of her efforts that will continue to motivate her throughout her career. Tripti Mahaur has been teaching history and social science at the Government Girls Inter College in Kila Rampur for the last nine years. The teacher is popular among the students of the school for her unique teaching methods. Rampur district magistrate Ravinder Kumar Mandel called Tripti and congratulated her for the honour.
Congratulating both teachers, Lalita Pradeep, director, additional basic education, said, “I am really proud of Tripti from secondary and Manish from the basic education sector for winning the National Award for Teachers this year. The state is proud of their extraordinary achievement in individual capacity. They are our heroes and will inspire a generation towards excellence.”
