‘Little reporters’ to QR-coded trees: 82 teachers felicitated with national award

Home-reading campaigns that take books beyond the classroom, initiatives that turn students into “little reporters”, and digital mapping of campus trees using QR codes covering 102 species and a knowledge park built from recycled materials are among the innovations for which 82 teachers have been selected for this year’s National Teachers’ Awards.

President Droupadi Murmu felicitated the awardees from three departments on the occasion of Teachers Day on Saturday. Among them, 48 from the Department of School Education and Literacy, 21 from higher educational institutions and polytechnics and 13 skill trainers from the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said education is the most effective means of realising the ideal of equality of opportunity enshrined in the Constitution and that the “achievement of negligible primary school dropout rate had been made possible through the teachers’ efforts.” She also noted that school education forms the foundation of the system, and that while knowledge and skills can be acquired at any time, imparting lessons in good conduct during childhood is far more effective.

On skill development, she said, “Establishing India as the skill capital of the world and transforming it into a knowledge superpower, is among our national priorities.” The function was attended by Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi, Ministers of state Sukanta Majumdar and Jayant Chaudhary.

Dr Archana Shukla of Government Mahatma Gandhi Sandipani Higher Secondary School, Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal, was awarded for project-based learning, ecological stewardship and low-cost student initiatives — including installing over 1,000 sparrow houses and digitally mapping campus trees using QR codes for 102 species.

Sunita Yadav from Government Middle School, Chhattisgarh’s Khichdi was awarded for her community initiative Nyota Bhojan, now expanded statewide, and a home reading campaign, Ghar Ghar Pustak Vachan. Serving since 2008, Yadav’s pedagogy enables rural students to act as “Little Reporters” interviewing officials, producing educational reels, audiobooks, and short films.

Divyendu Sen of Mahatma Gandhi Government School, Jhalawar, Rajasthan, was chosen for pioneering the Virtual Biology Laboratory, AI-enabled biology education and the “Tree Talk” QR-code-based botanical learning system, making high-level STEM education accessible in government schools.

The awardees further included Dr Renu Tripathi of Balika Inter College, Ghaziabad, UP, who was honoured for holistic development of girls through tech enabled and inclusive learning; Ravi Jaiswal of Government Model High School, Chandigarh, who has been awarded for creating low-cost and scalable solutions; and Kunda Jayawant Bachhav of Nashik, Maharashtra, who received the award for her “Educational Parenting” initiative.