Vice-President Confers 45 Meritorious Teachers With National Award Maharashtra’s Vikram Adsul Conferred with Award

New Delhi, Sep.5: “Teachers are the key Architects of National Development and the basic education must be in mother tongue, expressed the Vice-President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu while addressing the Teachers’ Day Award event at Vigyan Bhavan today.  Maharashtra’s Vikram Adsul, a Zilla Parishad School Teacher was conferred the Teacher’s Award.

The Vice-President presented the National Awards to meritorious teachers from across the country. He was addressing the gathering after presenting the Presents National Awards to Teachers 2017 on the occasion of Teachers Day, here today. The Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Prakash Javadekar, the Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Shri Upendra Kushwaha and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

In his address to all the Teachers Present, the Vice President said that it is because of teachers like you that our system of education is moving steadily towards greater heights of excellence. In recognizing your outstanding contribution the government has not only recognised you as individuals but has also show cased what can be actually achieved with competence, commitment and collaboration, he added.

Maharashtra’s Vikram Adsul, Sole Teacher’s Award Winner this year

Maharashtra’s Shri Vikram Sonba Adsul was conferred with Teacher’s Award today. He hails from a very remote village called Bandgarwasti of Karjat Taluka from Ahmednagar. An Assistant Teacher from Zilla Parishad Primary School and popularly known as Technosavvy Teacher in his area, he has been able to innovate his teaching through dramatization and adoption of joyful learning experiences based largely on outdoor activities.

After receiving the prestigious Award, he spoke to this office. He informed working in a difficult terrain and in the context of an economically and socially marginalized community; he has been able to help mobilize community support for the establishment of a computer lab in his school and helped the school achieve high academic performance. His work has taken the school towards remarkably better enrollment and lower dropout rates, he added. He has been awarded with a Citation, Silver Medal and a cash prize of Rs. 50,000.

The Vice President also said that the societal mind set and attitude must change. He further said that we have to create an ethos that values learning, an ethos that gives respect to teachers. It has been said that “values are caught and  that they can rarely be taught” which means the teachers must ensure through their behaviour, through their communication with students and in the way the classes are organised that values of equality, democracy, peace and  working together become an integral part of the school ethos, he added. The Vice President said that the teachers must make their instruction learner-friendly and this essentially implies that if we have to universalise quality education the teachers must individualise learning. They must know each child well and respond to the learning needs of each and every child in the classroom, he added.

The government of India has made a few changes in the eligibility criteria and other rules for the awards from this year, for instance, making it online and allowing teachers to self-nominate and directly apply for the award.