Delhi govt to celebrate Teachers’ Day as ‘Abhar Diwas’, award 122 teachers

Teachers’ Day 2021: The Delhi government will celebrate Teachers’ Day on September 5 as ‘Abhar Diwas’ and award 122 teachers who diligently discharged their duties during the COVID-19 pandemic, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Saturday.

A music teacher who recently created a world record for playing sitar non-stop for over 32 hours and a maths teacher who helped students of Delhi government schools crack the IIT examination will be given the ‘Face of DoE’ (Directorate of Education) award.

“Teachers of Delhi have played an important role in the tough times of Covid. They have not only worked shoulder to shoulder with the administration but have also done remarkable work on the vaccination front, at quarantine centres, in distribution of food, mask enforcement and airport duty,” said Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio.

While performing these duties, the teachers also continued to teach children online and did not let their education stop, he added.

During the pandemic, Sisodia said, there was large-scale migration of people and many children went to other states.

The teachers worked to find these children, helped them return to Delhi, provided devices to those children who could not attend online classes and ensured that they had an internet connection, he said.

Earlier, the number of awards was 103 but it has been increased this year, Sisodia said.

The eligibility criteria for Delhi State Teacher’s Award 2021 have been relaxed to cover guest teachers and private tutors. The criterion for a teacher to have 15 years of teaching experience to be considered for the award has been relaxed to three years, he said.

Of the 1,108 applications received for the award, 122 were finalised by a panel, he added.

The shortlisted teachers will be awarded at a ceremony that will be held on Teachers’ Day on Sunday.

The teachers who will be given the ‘Face of DoE’ award are — Raj Kumar and Suman Arora, according to an official statement.

Kumar, a music teacher with a Delhi government school, etched his name in the Guinness Book of World Records for playing sitar non-stop for 32 hours and 20 minutes. Arora has an M.Sc in Mathematics from IIT-Delhi and helped Delhi government school students crack the IIT examination.

Five teacher-educators from SCERT/DIET will be honoured as ‘Teachers of Teachers’, the statement said.

Besides, two special awards will be given to Bharti Kalra and Rani Bhardwaj, who provided tablet devices to students and supported them in various ways during the pandemic so that they could continue with their studies, Sisodia said.

He said the Delhi government is proud of its teachers and the “revolutionary changes” in Delhi’s school education, which are now being recognised globally, have come only because of them.

The deputy chief minister appealed to people to call up at least one of their teachers on Teachers’ Day and express their gratitude towards them.

The application process for the awards in all major categories was conducted online. Teachers could directly apply online and heads of schools were required to verify the information and submit their comments online only within a stipulated time, the statement said.

As a result of the online and flexible application process, 1,108 entries were received for the award this year as against 234, 148, and 204 in the last three years, it said.

Proportionate weightage was given to initiatives and performance of the applicants as a teacher or principal in the last three years for the award, the statement said.

Of the 80 awardees in the teachers’ category, 57 are women and 23 men. Out of the 21 awardees in the principals’ category, 13 are women and eight are men, it said, adding that awards will also be given to 14 sports teachers and two librarians.