National Teachers' Award 2020: MCD teacher, Delhi pvt school principal among awardees

An MCD school teacher who often goes out of the way to help his students academically and even ferries them to exam centres, and a private school principal who has introduced global citizenship curriculum for students are the two teachers from Delhi who received the national award this year.

Surender Singh, who has been a teacher with schools of the North MCD for the last 21 years, has an exceptional record.

For the last five times, he has been in-charge of fifth-graders in his school, over 160 of his students cleared the entrance to Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalayas -- exclusive resource-rich schools run by the Delhi government, to which admissions take place through competitive entrance exams.

From filling up their application forms, speaking to their parents to hiring a bus on the day of the exam to ferry all the students to their centre, Singh does it all.

"Surender Singh has shown himself to be a dedicated and motivated teacher who has worked very hard for the improvement and performance of his school. The school caters to some of the most deprived sections of society and he has worked hard to make the school attractive and effective," his award citation read.

He has untiringly built a strong rapport with the community and has thus helped the school attain an unprecedentedly high enrolment. He is able to maintain regular attendance and minimise drop outs by making the school atmosphere welcoming, creative and one of joyful learning,it added.

Jyoti Arora, the principal of Mount Abu School, who is also the governing body member of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), is the other awardee from the national capital.

She has introduced the unique global citizenship curriculum in the school to spread awareness about UN Sustainable Development Goals.

"Arora runs a well-managed school in which academic, co-curricular activities as well as social and life skills are imparted effectively to students. She has involved the school community, parents and teachers in the development of the school in many versatile ways," the award citation read.

She has brought many reputed resource institutions within the country and from abroad, to help build the best academic, ICT and co-scholastic systems in her school. She has encouraged her teachers to innovate pedagogic and collaborating learning practices and has introduced a unique Global Citizen Curriculum in her school, it added.

The two are among 47 teachers who received the National Teachers' Awards from President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday in a virtual ceremony.