Governor confers state award on 32 teachers

Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla conferred the state award on 32 teachers on the occasion of Teachers' Day here today. Besides 19 school teachers, six teachers from colleges and technical institutions each were also given the state award. Last year’s winner of National Teachers Award Sunil Kumar was also given the state award. Besides, seven schoolteachers were awarded the certificates of excellence for their good work. College teachers and technical institution teachers were given the state award for the first time.

The Governor congratulated the teachers and urged them to go beyond classrooms, embrace innovation, and inculcate a sense of responsibility among students. He asked the teachers to contribute to making the ‘Nasha Mukt Himachal’ campaign successful by making the youth aware to 'say no to drugs'. He stressed the need for environmental protection in the wake of recurring natural disasters triggered by reckless construction and deforestation that was bound to prove disastrous.

The Governor also stressed the significance of the National Education Policy, 2020, which was deep rooted in Indian traditions, values, research and innovation in promoting holistic learning. Education Minister Rohit Thakur welcomed the Governor and said that the state government was committed to raising the quality of education. He highlighted several initiatives such as transparent selection of award winners, foreign exposure visits for teachers, countrywide educational tours for students and the introduction of English as a medium of instructions from Class I. Technical Education Minister Rajesh Dharmani expressed gratitude for including technical education teachers for state awards for the first time. “Teachers of all streams must focus on applied part of their subjects to make it more practical and useful for students, considering they will have to compete globally now,” said Dharmani. The awardees said that the recognition would encourage them to work even harder.

State Awardees

Schoolteachers: Ajay Singh (Lecturer, Chemistry), Kangra; Anita Choudhary (Lecturer, Kangra); Davender Chauhan (DPE, Shimla); Seema Devi (PET, Shimla); Umesh Kumar (TGT) Mandi; Gurdass Ram (TGT) Mandi; Girdhari Lal (Shastri) Lahaul and Spiti; Vijay Kumar (JBT), Hamirpur; Ajay Kumar (JBT) Bilaspur; Ritu Goel (JBT), Sirmaur; Yog Raj (Lecturer, Maths), Kinnaur; Jeevan Bala (JBT), Chamba; Vivek Bhardwaj (JBT), Sirmaur; Manjula Sharma (Nodal Officer, Nipun), Shimla; Deepika Jandaik (TGT), Solan; Shishu Pal (JBT), Sirmaur; Kuldeep Singh (Principal), Kinnaur; Kailash Sharma (DPE), Kangra; Maya Ram (JBT). Sirmaur

College teachers:

Parmod Singh (Principal), Hamirpur; Kirti Singha, Govt College, Sanjauli; Jagdish Chand, Govt College, Nahan; Naresh Sharma, Govt College Dharamsala; Vikas Nathan, Govt College, Theog; Arun Kumar, Govt Degree College, Bilaspur

Technical institution teachers:

Amit Kumar and Anuj Gupta, Sundernagar; Pankaj Thakur, Jagmohan and Mahendra Pal, Mandi