Mr. Amit Kumar, Teacher, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Theog, Himachal Pradesh - 171201
Mr. Amit Kumar, a computer teacher at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya at Theog, Shimla, of Himachal Pradesh has made science and math learning a great fun to students. Adopting a blended learning approach to put his computers education to the best use, Mr. Amit has used Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) based MOOCs to reach out to students in the same class but with different abilities to learn. By introducing Collaborative Flipped learning in the classroom to implement Communication, Critical Thinking, Creativity, Curation and Collaboration to empower students and teachers with 21st Century skills he made the science leaning an all-round experience to students. For students with rural backdrop, Mr. Amit’s innovative approaches such as Creation of Mind Maps by students, Skype Interactions of students with classrooms across various countries, collaborative learning using Wakelet and student voice empowerment for better engagement using Flipgrid are plane changing experiences. It helped his students to participate in various National and International level competitions like NSF, ENF, Inspire Manak Award, e-Raksha Competition and Adobe Creativity Challenge with accolades. In an effort to extend his efforts to others, Mr. Amit has published Books and more than 75 research papers. By giving the experience of a fully loaded corporate school at a Navodaya school, Mr. Amit proves to be a ‘super teacher’ for his students.

Ms. Anju Dahiya, Lecturer, Government Sr. Sec. School, Barwasni, Sonipat, Haryana - 131001
Ms. Anju Dahiya is an immensely talented Science (Chemistry) teacher. She has designed innovative methods for kindling the curiosity of students so that knowledge is not only disseminated but created as well. The science congresses, conclaves, quizzes have been effectively employed. In order to develop personalities of the students in a holistic manner, she has initiated many activities such as mountaineering, planting of trees and the use of QR codes for getting detailed information needed. Ms. Anju took the help of NGOs and philanthropists for updating the infrastructure of the school.

Mr. Aravindaraja D, Teacher, Artchouna Soupraya Naikar Government High School Mudaliarpet, Puducherry - 605004
Mr. Aravindaraja D. is model for what can be achieved with hard work and commitment. He has put his small school on the international map by the innovative programmes. The bubble show, creation of the science corner to stimulate curiosity, the eco club, use of Foldscope project microscopy, establishing photography centre are all noteworthy. Special mention must be made about the students who won International Astronomical Union award from among 128 countries, Honorary Mention award in Worldwide Crystal growing competition, winning prizes in Make Science International competition at Paris, receiving recognition certificate from Vigyan Prasar, Government of India. His mastery over rangoli art and drawing have made his classrooms and teaching exciting. His love of science has excited and involved the entire community.

Mr. Arun Kumar Garg, Principal, GMSS Datewas, Mansa, Punjab - 151502
Mr. Arun Kumar Garg heads the school. His contributions in making the school more learners friendly made headlines. The concepts that he introduced such as kitchen gardening, subject labs and education village have made the students practice sustainable lifestyles. Being a mathematics teacher he innovated with pedagogy to make mathematics learning more joyful. He went on to do online teaching and organized doubts clearing sessions that spreads across school boundaries. Innovative practices such as making the students write review of books that they study in a well-developed school library helps the students in overall development and improves their creative thinking. He has been maintaining a good balance of school development and teaching and that has earned him laurels.

Mr. Buddhadev Dutta, Teacher, Joypur Primary School, Joypur, Bankuraa, West Bengal - 722138
Mr.Buddhadev Datta, a primary school teacher at Joypur Primary School in West Bengal is an exemplary innovator in school education. Notwithstanding the rural setting of his school he went on to innovate pedagogical methods that gets the students interested and involved. Breaking the monotony, he made the students ask questions and he as a teacher answered them and this has helped immensely in inculcating critical thinking in students. Peer to peer learning process which is an advanced pedagogical method implemented in foreign countries is followed by this ‘dedicated and innovative guru’ in West Bengal. Creating a reading club he also tried to get the students a habit of reading. Coming from vulnerable conditions geographically, he ensured that his students are equipped with lifesaving skills. His efforts during COVID pandemic where he created e-content and innovative online material to help students continue their learning and attending to the learning gaps as they return to physical school demonstrates his love to students and sincerity as a teacher. He promises to make big roads to his students and for their bright future.

Mr. Durga Ram Muwal, Teacher, Government Upper Primary School Pargiyapada, Rajasthan - 313702
Mr. Durga Ram Muwal has shown himself to be dedicated and motivated teacher who has worked very hard for the improvement and performance of his school. The school caters to the most deprived sections of the society. He has worked hard to make the school attractive and effective. His abilities and effectiveness in yoga training, self-defence training have given him a popular face among the community. He has been successfully curtailing dropouts by activating the interest of students through the use of joyful TLMs and experiential pedagogical practices and co-scholastic activities. He has given a voice to the girl child through education.

Ms. G Ponsankari, Teacher, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Tumakuru, Karnataka - 572101
Ms. G. Ponsankari has done most of what is expected of a complete teacher. Joining hands with NGOs to build eco-friendly components for the school, developing local health traditions, plastic free campus, effective Alumni meets, project-based learning, optimising the use of Atal Tinkering Lab and ensuring peer learning in the school have all been her fingerprints on the school canvas. Niti Ayog’s award is a reward for her good work. Her out of classroom activities are a revelation of her acumen.

Ms. Gamchi Timre R. Marak, Head Teacher, Educere Higher Secondary School, Samanda, East Garo Hills, Meghalaya - 794111
Ms. Gamchi Timre R Marak is a courageous lady determined to do her best for the rural, inaccessible areas and help children to discover their potentials. Having worked as an administrator in a school, she noticed the challenges faced by the children in the mining areas and decided to start a school of her own with the local support and a few similar minded teachers. She took to counselling, introducing innovative teaching programmes so that these children could be drawn out of the rampant alcoholism, domestic violence and early marriages. She introduced Music and Taekwondo and agriculture to hold back these children. Her visits to the homes of parents have ironed out a few challenges and the NLP sessions have offered succour to the troubled minds.

Mr. Harpreet Singh, Head Teacher, Govt. Primary Smart School Bihla, Barnala, Punjab - 148100
Mr. Harpreet Singh, as a head teacher of Government Primary Smart School, has demonstrated committed efforts in transforming his school infrastructure by mobilizing support from NRIs and the community apart from his own personal contributions. He not only made the school clean, hygienic and modern, but also ensured that the learning is joyful for students by establishing Special Education Activity Park, various labs for languages as well as science and social science subject areas. Not limiting to his own school, he mentored 5 other schools in Punjab to become clean and smart in providing education. Making his school as ISO certified school, he has been inspiring many other schools in Punjab to modernize their school infrastructure and student learning.

Mr. Iswar Chandra Nayak, Teacher, Government Upper Primary School, Kanapur, Puri, Odisha - 752114
Mr. Iswar Chandra Nayak is an Assistant Teacher at Government Upper Primary School Kanapur in Odisha. He is an extensive writer and a popular columnist in the field of school education. He has implemented innovation in teaching methods such as ‘devise the education material and means of delivery by observing the students’. He not only published these innovative practices in the form of books, columns and magazines but also made the students part of such writings. With his writings and interaction on various platforms he has reached out to larger audience making the impact manifolds and that has given him wide recognition and many accolades at state and national level. With the combination of dedicated teaching, innovation in pedagogy and extensive writing and outreach Mr. Nayak can motivate and be role model for many young teachers in the country.

Ms. Jainus Jacob, Teacher, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Thrissur, Kerala - 680551
Ms. Jainus Jacob has demonstrated what academic acumen and hard work can do to a teacher and to the students through her. Her committed efforts for the last 26 years have been a story of struggle, experimentation and inevitable success. The recognition has come in the form of KVS National innovation and experimentation award, Fulbright Distinguished award for teachers and publication of the coffee table book by Intel. Her videos and projects have attracted the attention of scholars in education.

Mr. Kandala Ramaiah, Teacher, ZP High School Abbapur, Mulugu, Telangana - 506343
Mr. Kandala Ramaiah is a teacher at Zilla Parishad High School at Abbapur in Telangana State. He used the local conditions to innovate in teaching mathematics. Math Rangoli to teach shapes and Algebraic tiling on the floor and wall painting with math concepts goes well with the local and limiting conditions of a government school with very good outcomes. Use of simple graph paper to teach the basic math concepts testimonies his ‘presence of mind’ in innovating to the local conditions. The ‘connected learning’ adopted by Mr. Kandala during COVID is a praise worthy initiative to ensure learning during the pandemic. This enthusiastic teacher has used social media based crowd funding approach to improve his school infrastructure. He rephrased the government’s slogan ‘mana vuru, mana badi’ as ‘mana vuru, mana badi, mana gudi’ (translates to ‘our village, our school, our temple’) and that demonstrates his sincerity as a teacher. Mr. Kandala’s innovation and application would go a long way in serving the students.

Mr. Kaustubh Chandra Joshi, Principal, SDS GIC, Pratappur-Chakaluwa, Nainital, Uttarakhand - 263139
Mr. Kaustubh Chandra Joshi, exemplifies school leadership skills as a Principal of a higher secondary school. As a result of his ability and a range of diverse learning experiences, he has contributed a lot for the holistic development of the students. He has contributed in creation of virtual lab as well as a website to promote ICT based learning. He has developed innovative digital library and computer club in his school and is extensively using the same for students learning. His efforts have led students to succeed and achieve positions in many prestigious fields. His dedication and leadership skill in school and building a well-rounded perspective for his students make him an exemplary teacher.

Ms. Kavita Sanghvi, Principal, Chatrabhuj Narsee Memorial School, Vile Parle, Mumbai, Maharashtra - 400056
Believing in holistic and society sensitive growth of children, Ms. Kavita Sanghvi, the Principal of the school, has made efforts in devising the curriculum that gives the students a chance to explore many domains of learning. ‘Bag less day’ initiative that she had implemented helped the students to try and experiment with different fields including arts and culture and this is the closest to the philosophy adopted in the New Education Policy (NEP 2020). The blend of science excellence which allowed the students to participate in ISRO activities and the focused activity on life skills where they are taught soap and shoe making etc. is an example of a balance in curriculum that many schools may like to follow. Ms. Kavita has been a STEM educator, resource person to all major education bodies in the country and as an educator and school administrator her outreach has been phenomenal wherein she trained teachers in countries like Maldives and Nepal. Ms. Kavita sets an example of a perfect school administrator for ‘urban setting’.

Mr. Khursheed Ahmad, Teacher, Composite School Sahawa, Deoria, Uttar Pradesh - 274201
Mr. Khursheed Ahmad is a science teacher at Composite School, Sahawa in Uttar Pradesh. Popularizing science by impactful teaching is the heart of Mr. Ahmad’s teaching philosophy. Simple innovations in pedagogy such as using the elements of periodic table as role numbers of students to make it easy for them to remember is simple but proved to be effective. With the limited resources he made science models such as heart, human circulatory system etc. with recycled material and made students do experiments such as chromatography. Enthused by this learning the students got various national scholarships such as INSPIRE and prizes in science competitions. His efforts and ability to handhold the students towards scientific temperament goes a long way with the national ambitions of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Ms. Mala Jigdal Dorjee, Principal, Modern Senior Secondary School, Gangtok, Sikkim - 737101
Ms. Mala Jigdal Dorjee started with the determination of making the Government school touch the highest standards in education. She did everything possible to get the infrastructure to an acceptable level, by seeking donations, conducting charity shows, reaching out to CSR funds. She got training for her teachers in creative teaching strategies, took the issue of tackling the substance abuse seriously, established Artificial Intelligence laboratory, launched the Entrepreneurship club, celebrated the Annual Day in a grand manner and instituted cash prizes for grade X and XII toppers. All these measures have changed the mindset of parents towards the Government School.

Ms. Mamta Ahar, Assistant Teacher, Government Primary School P Sakharam Dubey, Raipur, Chhattisgarh - 492001
Ms. Mamta Ahar, an assistant teacher of a government primary school has shown keen interest and practice in creating a joyful environment. She has been able to mobilize community support for enhancing enrolment among girls in a rural location. She has taken special care to encourage children in different national integration activities. She believes in including the spirit of lifelong learning with use of innovative teaching learning practices through dedicated reading corners, use of technology, music in education and encouraging participation in sports. She has also implemented home counselling and her deeper involvement and encouragement in the school helped students’ holistic development.

Ms. Maria Murena Miranda, Principal, Government High School, Morpirla, Quepem, South Goa - 403703
With her unflinching efforts, Ms. Maria Murena Miranda as Principal has successfully renovated, upgraded and made her rural tribal school infrastructure child friendly with the help of the community. Due to her efforts, dropout rate has declined in her school. She has worked hard to support tribal students by undertaking home visits, remedial classes, encouraging girls by providing free note books and uniforms. She inspires her students with good values and helps them in building a strong foundation for their lives ahead.

Ms. Meenakshi Goswami, Principal, CNS Higher Secondary School, Gabharu, Sonitpur, Assam - 784153
As a Principal, Ms. Meenakshi Goswami is able to establish a positive school culture by treating the people the way they would like to be treated. She has helped guiding the curriculum development with the teachers providing insight and leadership to meet both students and teachers needs. She lays emphasis on the usages of language and removes fear for learning the language. She shares warm personal interactions for their academic progress. She has concentrated on social skill development and overall personality development along with acquisition of knowledge of the child.

Ms. Mimi Yhoshii, Head Teacher, GMS, Officers Hill, Kohima, Nagaland - 797001
Ms. Mimi Yhoshii is a graduate teacher and also the head teacher, who has motivation built in her. Her incorrigible enthusiasm, rubbed off on the community and that resulted in building extra classrooms, beautifying the campus, school meal programme, develop a kitchen garden and that lead to the inevitable increase in the enrolment. 80% of her students are domestic helpers and hence, she conducts classes for them after school hours to reduce drop-out rate. Particularly fascinating are her innovative teaching learning methods and helping children to learn vocations. Turning bio non -degradable plastic waste into baskets, floor mats, old clothes into potholders, door mats and selling them to generate some income for the school are wonderful ideas of Ms. Mimi.

Mr. Mohd. Jabir, Teacher, Government Middle School Karith, Kargil, Ladakh - 194109
Mr. Mohd Jabir is a senior educator in English and Environmental Studies at Government Middle School Karith, Ladakh. Mr. Jabir finds innovative ways to teach which are based on the principle of ‘no punishment to students’. Acting smartly as per children’s psychology, he used the technique of ‘clapping while learning’ for teaching English Phonetics, Grammar, Vocabulary and many others. Taking ‘joyful learning’ as his philosophy he tried innovative ways of teaching such as Prose Singing Strategy, Learning with Body Language, Teaching via Slogan Technique, Language Games, Teaching in Open Air, Story Role Playing etc. He has been training teachers of the other schools on these innovations and also published the same in research journals. His efforts during COVID pandemic by innovating with the concepts of WhatsApp Classroom, Offline Notes and Online Assessments etc. to avoid ‘student disconnect’ are the testimony of his sincerity as a teacher.

Mr. Neeraj Saxena, Teacher, Government Primary School Salegarh, Raisen, Madhya Pradesh - 464665
Mr. Neeraj Saxena is an iconic teacher, social reformer, determined soldier, all rolled in one. His school is situated in the forest area and he is the only teacher in the school. He contacted everyone willing to listen, to uplift the facilities for the school. From getting the road to the school, borewell and garden, Mr. Neeraj has motivated and mobilised the women in the villages around, to be perfect volunteers for schoolwork. The whole village is charged up with his motivation. He has convinced the parents to send girls to school and there are 54 of them already.

Ms. Nishi Kumari, Teacher, Mahadev Higher Secondary School, Khusrupur, Patna, Bihar - 803202
Ms. Nishi Kumari as a teacher of the Mahadev Higher Secondary School has shown herself to be an extremely holistic and versatile teacher. A state level active career counsellor, she has been involved in programs such as awareness about child rights, child marriage, dowry, menstrual hygiene, creating pollution free environment, waste management etc. in collaboration with other organizations. She has motivated students to think rationally, implemented learner centered pedagogy in classrooms, and created a culture of creativity and innovation. She has also contributed in preparing e-content, models, and learning resources for which she was selected from the state for National Teacher Resource Repository (NTRR). She has been engaged consistently with the community to increase enrolment and to reduce dropout rate particularly for girls.

Mr. Pradeep Negi, Lecturer, Government Inter College Bhel, Ranpur, Haridwar, Uttarakhand – 249407
Mr. Pradeep Negi is a Lecturer and passionate about providing equal educational opportunities to the underprivileged children. He has made enormous effort for mobilization of society through different awareness programmes, educational visits of students and organized environmental programmes. He has promoted innovative experiments for joyful learning like use of ICT, Blogs and Websites, YouTube channels, TLM, Project based learning, activity orientation and role play method. His creative thinking inspires many and creates a climate for innovation in his school.

Mr. Nongmaithem Gautam Singh, Teacher, Eastern Ideal High School, Imphal East, Manipur - 795008
Mr. Nongmaithem Gautam Singh, a primary teacher at the Eastern Ideal High School in Manipur has been striving to provide better instruction to his students within the limited pool of resources. His attempt to protect students from the falling chalk powder by converting the blackboards to white boards using the local material is praise worthy. Mr. Singh has put the local resources such as bamboo to their best use with his innovative thinking in making protractors, bulletin boards out of bamboo. He donated and also trained other school teachers in doing so. All his innovations did not limit to curriculum and instruction but extended to augment the school infrastructure. Ideas such as ‘volunteer painting’, ‘crowd funding’ and ‘renovation with old clothes’ were not only put to use in his school but also propagated to the other schools. Use of waste material in making teaching aids and his zeal to provide students with a better instruction not only is praise worthy but also inspiring to others.

Mr. Om Prakash Patidar, Lecturer, Government Excellence Higher Secondary School, Shajapur, Madhya Pradesh - 465001
Mr. Om Prakash Patidar has shown himself to be a dedicated and motivated teacher of senior secondary school who has worked very hard for the improvement and performance of his school. He has implemented many innovative practices for making the learning joyful through development of e-content and ICT tools for encouraging creativity in science teaching and learning. He has worked on online laboratory students for laboratory experiences. He has untiringly built a strong rapport with the community and has thus helped the school to attain high enrolment. His creative thinking inspires many and creates a climate of innovation in his school.

Ms. Rajni Sharma, Teacher, Nigam Pratibha Vidyalaya, North West Delhi, Delhi – 110085
Ms Rajni Sharma is a dedicated teacher in a primary school who has done innovative work to reach out to students to support their education during the pandemic time as well as the normal time. She has developed interesting online materials for use in virtual classes, of which most are self-developed materials including balgeet. She has been playing the role of a mentor too for teachers. She has also contributed her efforts for environmental awareness. Her innovative way for integrated learning across subjects has been widely disseminated and appreciated.

Mr. Ramachandran K, Teacher, Panchayat Union primary school Keelambal, Bogalur, Ramanathpuram, Tamil Nadu - 623527
Mr. Ramachandran K. is primary teacher who is committed to make a difference to the lives of not only his students but also to the community he serves. It is gratifying to see the entire community involved in building and developing a government school and Mr. Ramachandran is the focal point. Beginning from clearing the land from the noxious Karuvelam trees to planting flower and fruit plants, installing drip irrigation, painting the building, getting books and stationery all with public support has been a great saga of tenacity and perseverance. Motivating all the teachers for creative teaching with worksheets and activities, introducing Thirukkural for all the students and conducting competitions is a new dimension of spirituality in education.

Dr Ravi Aruna, Teacher, Asnra Zillaprishad High School, Kanuru, Penamaluru, Krishna, Andhra Pradesh - 520007
Dr. Ravi Aruna is a Physical Science teacher at ASNRA Zilla Prishad High School in Kanuru of Andhra Pradesh. Her attempt to make science learning more effective by employing the ‘Immerse learning’ technique proved to imbibe science temperament in students who went on to win many prizes in science exhibitions. She employed low cost TLM such as clay moldings to explain science concepts and resorted to drama and play to make science learning joyful. Raising funds with the community involvement she has also helped in improving the school infrastructure. Putting to use her PhD research experience, Dr. Aruna has developed an innovative teaching model named ‘Group Clinical Supervision Model’ for the evaluation of the professional development of the in-service teachers. She has participated actively in outreach and as resource person at a number of prestigious programmes such as NISHTHA and published handbooks on physical science teachers for SCERT.

Mr. Santosh Nath, Acting Head Teacher, South Mirzapur High School, Belonia M. C, South Tripura, Tripura - 799155
Mr. Santosh Nath is a man on a mission to popularise science and fight superstitions. His work is exemplary in the sense that his ICT classroom was converted into the COVID war room and entire South Tripura was monitored through it. His working models and exhibits have made his school a place of visit. Experiments to calculate the rate of photosynthesis in different coloured lights, demonstration of Newton’s laws, mobile globe, structure of DNA, models to interpret geometrical shapes, colours of light have attracted the children and public and the reason for increased admissions to the school. His dramas, role plays are the tools to warn people against superstitions. With public support, he has built clean hygienic toilets with incinerators. His effective teaching methods coupled with social interactions have made him a Man Friday for the community.

Mr. Saurabh Suman, Teacher, Lalit Narayan Laxmi Narayan Project Girls High School, Triveniganj, Supaul, Bihar-852139
Mr. Saurabh Suman, teacher of Lalit Narayan Laxmi Narayan Project Girls High School has put immense effort to improve the pedagogic and academic aspects of his School. He has developed e-content for Science and Mathematics and these are very useful for students and teachers. For introducing modern techniques in his school, he has done many innovations such as smart card for social distancing, smart blind stick, RADAR, automatic security road system, SMS alert flood control system, voice controlled electronic appliance and smart dustbin. He has also given importance to coding and robotics to enable students for creating different models as a support to their other activities. For bringing social awareness he has done so many things through his paintings and creativity. Programmes such as stop the alcohol, voters’ awareness, stop dowry, use of dustbin, yoga, planting sapling have helped to bring awareness among students and community.

Ms. Seema Rani, Principal, Government Senior Secondary School, Dhanas, Chandigarh - 160014
As a Principal, Ms. Seema Rani has been involved in providing holistic education for making global citizens out of her students. She is a dynamic administrator known for her community and social outreach programs. She has taken lead for both character building and nation building via establishing honesty shop, Bachpan ki Galiband and many more such innovations in her school. She has promoted awareness about reducing the use of polythene bags, conversion of dry leaves into organic compost, dual mode of teaching, liquid soap and hand sanitizer preparation in her school. She has empowered teacher educators for inclusive education too. Her motto is not only to impart knowledge to the students but also to inculcate in them wisdom, compassion and humanitarian spirit.

Mr. Shashikant Sambhajirao Kulthe, Teacher, Zilla Parishad Primary School Damunaiktanda Beed, Maharashtra - 414203
Mr. Shashikant Sambhajirao Kulthe has been a pioneer in educating children of migrants. His school is located in a remote area, mostly inhabited by Banjaras whose main vocation is to cut sugar cane crop. They would go away to different places for work along with their children, who would miss schooling. Mr. Kulthe has ensured that the children stay in the village and get educated. He has an interesting academic profile with degrees in English, Hindi, Urdu and Music, which he uses to the maximum to help his students to learn. The community support he has received in building infrastructure, stay facilities for children is creditable. Employing audio visual aids, conducting various activities and competitions and writing articles and books make Mr. Kulthe a model teacher.

Ms. Shipra, Teacher, Tata Workers Union High School Kadma, Jamshedpur, East Singhbum Jharkhand - 831011
Ms. Shipra is an extremely creative teacher of science in a high school. She has introduced many innovative practices in teaching of science that have helped students to learn better. She has guided the metamorphosis of school from a deprived school to better accomplished school. She works with 360 degree approach for holistic development of students in her school. She is committed to inspire students to learn through participation, collaboration and experimentation utilizing new techniques and natural resources for improving our society and environment as well as to build cost effective solutions.

Mr. Sidharth Yonzone, Principal, Eklavya Model Residential School, Gyalshing, Sikkim – 737111
Mr. Sidharth Yonzone is an example of a creative teacher, who can materialise something very useful from almost nothing. When he became the founder Principal of the Ekalavya Model Residential School at Gangyap, Sikkim, there was no infrastructure. From building the infrastructure, bringing children out of their natural shyness to building confidence and Values in them using the unique way of basketball and music have been success stories recognised internationally. His journey on the road less travelled is actually a guiding light for a creative teacher.

Mr. Somnath Waman Walke, Teacher, ZPCPS Pargaon Jogeshwari, Ashti, Beed, Maharashtra - 414203
Mr. Somnath Waman Walke is an amazing talent dedicated to build a school of excellence, where novelty is a rule. Convincing the migratory parents to stay back for their children’s education, arranging School meals, getting community support to make the school tech savvy with tablets for children, creating an audio visual studio, making children sing the poems in the text book and converting the lessons in to recorded role plays, planning on line classes when the only road that connects the village to the school gets inundated during rainy days, painting the school building with his own resources have made this school a Happy school. Creative activities like Saturday – my war, backpack free day, let’s enjoy, my mirror have been attractions and have resulted in better enrolment. Introducing Robotics is an addition to long list of achievements.

Ms. Sunita, Teacher, GSSS Badhir Bikaner, Bikaner, Rajasthan – 334004
Ms. Sunita is a science teacher of special education for the deaf students and works passionately to inculcate scientific and innovative spirit amongst her deaf students. She has demonstrated that she is a creative and innovative teacher who has kept her students engaged in learning activities in challenging circumstances. She has set up a science lab for children with special needs. She has extended support to her students through the creation of online teacher module, innovative e-videos, and workbooks for class. Her skills have contributed to a larger audience as she was a resource person for the training of teachers.

Ms. Sunitha Rao, Principal, Delhi Public School Nacharam, Medchal, Telangana - 500076
Ms. Sunita Rao is the Principal at Delhi Public School (DPS) in Nacharam of Telangana State. Over her long and illustrious career as an educator she has served different schools in various capacities. At DPS she was instrumental in establishing ‘Toy Lab’ as part of joyful and art based learning for the young learners. Her efforts in getting the e-content developed for the pre-school children are a great value addition. Ms. Sunita has focused more on developing lab such as Artificial Intelligence lab which provided the dynamic urban students a chance to express themselves. As a social responsibility Ms. Sunita’s initiative to share her resources with the local government schools is noteworthy and sets an example for others. ‘Each one – Teach one’ initiative that aims to help the staff within her school is an excellent ‘extension’ service that is worth for every school to attempt.

Mr. T N Sridhar, Teacher, Zila Parishad High School, Nawabpet, Mahbubnagar Telangana - 509340
Mr. T N Sridhar from ZillaParishad School in Telangana State is an educator who believed strongly in experiential and thought provocative learning both for students and teachers. Some of the innovative programmes that he adopted such as Vidhyabarthi, kutuhal, vacation value and establishment of ‘Kalam Dream Force’ by donating his salary demonstrate his vision and drive for such approach to learning. Use of low cost material to develop concept labs with a large number of demonstrative material and self-learning kits showcases his attempt to beat the ‘funds limitation’ in achieving his objective in teaching. Joyful learning with ‘self-collected material’ by students is the closest to the new ways of teaching under the new NEP. Mr. Sridhar’s efforts have resulted in his students winning scholarships such as NCSC, INSPIRE, India International Science Festivals and recognition in international programmes such as SAKURA Japan science exchange program. His statement that village students are high on ‘innovation’ quotient compared to ‘criticality’ quotient portrays his deep understanding of the students with rural backdrop.

Mr. Umesh Bharatbhai Vala, Teacher, Saint Mary School, Rajkot, Gujarat - 360007
Mr. Umesh Bharatbhai Vala is a remarkable teacher and is a combination of many things that makes an ideal teacher – punctuality, hard work, care and a huge commitment for social work. He is a panelist for SCERT and NCERT in the Social Science and Gujarati subjects. In Gujarati, that he teaches, the results in the Board examinations, for the last three years are cent percent. He conducts regular camps for rural children. His outstanding social commitment is seen in the way he helps slum & street children get education at their own place. To top it all, he has not taken a single day leave for the last seven years.

Mr Umesh T P, Teacher, GLPS Amruthapura, Holalkere, Chitradurga, Karnataka - 577526
Mr. Umesh T P has innovatively deployed effective teaching strategies to improve his school which is in the interior village, deprived of basic facilities. Keeping aside all the challenges while performing the duty, he has contributed to reduce high dropout rates. He has taken proactive measures not only to create an attractive school but also to introduce many pedagogical practices to maximize learning levels of his students. He has successfully mobilized the community for improving student-enrolment, school infrastructure and setting up of smart classrooms. He has contributed to the development of e-content and use of ICT for improving teaching learning of students.

Ms. Vandna Shahi, Principal, BCM School, Ludhiana, Punjab - 141013
Ms. Vandana Shahi, the Principal of BCM School, Ludhiana in Punjab believes strongly in giving freedom to her students to explore their inherent strengths. She provides them with all kinds of labs wherein they can explore their interest. Ideas factory, innovation lab and LAKSHAY initiative are such efforts which are deeply admired by students and closely aligned to the aspirations of NEP 2020. Her efforts to develop leadership qualities in students by establishing entrepreneurs’ lab fit perfectly with the present trend and needs of urban students. All such efforts have resulted in students excelling in all domains of art and science and this can be an example of providing exploratory curriculum in school education. She has demonstrated great social responsibility and imbibing the same in students by some initiatives such as WE CARE under which women empowerment activities were conducted. Ms. Vandana sets an example of a model urban school that allows the aspirations of the students to flourish.

Mr. Virender Kumar, GSSS Dharogra, Suni, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh – 171019
Mr. Virender Kumar is a trained graduate teacher who is passionate in employing art as an instrument of social change. He has authored three books and has trained over 20,000 teachers on the aspect of art integration in curriculum. He has taken up the mission of improving the handwriting of students by teaching them calligraphy. He also teaches English and Social Science subjects. He has served as the resource person for SCERT, NCERT and NIEPA.

Mr. Yudhveer, JBT In charge of the School, GPS Anoga, Chamba, Himachal Pradesh – 176312
Mr. Yudhveer has played multiple roles depending on the need of the school as a teacher in Hindi, English, Mathematics, Computer Science, EVS, Yoga and General Knowledge. That speaks of his versatility. Mr. Yudhveer has functioned as State Nodal Resource Person for online content development for Har Ghar Pathashala official web portal, Computer and ICT Coordinator of school, Member of Focus Groups of the state on NEP 2020.

Mr. Ranjan Kumar Biswas, GSSS, Bambooflat, Wimberligunj, South Andaman, A & N Islands-744103
Mr. Ranjan Kumar Biswas, as a teacher has done commendable work in making the learning easier for children with visual challenge. He has taught them through Braille script, Abacus for Mathematics and imparted vocational training for life skills development. He has developed videos on how to use Abacus, Braille script, signature guide, tactile sketch maker, sign language for children with cerebral palsy, paddle wheeler and rollator. His innovations such as tactile sketch maker and signature guide has given him a unique identification. His innovative work for inclusive education to help differently abled learners has helped them to learn better and improved enrolment in the school.