Prez awards 3 from state among scores of teachers

Three government school teachers from Karnataka received the national awards from President Ram Nath Kovind at a function here on Thursday for their exemplary contributions and commitment to work.

B S Shashikumar, an assistant master at Government High School in Nelamangala, Bengaluru Rural; Suresha Marakala, an assistant teacher at Government High School in Besur, Kodagu; and Revathy Rajaram Iyer, a Hindi teacher at Kendriya Vidyalaya MEG and Centre at Sivanchetty Gardens, Bengaluru, received the prestigious award at a function organised under the aegis of the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry to mark Teachers' Day.

Kovind also conferred the coveted award to 43 other school teachers hailing from different states at the function. The award carries a silver medal, a certificate and Rs 50,000.

This was for the first time that Kovind has presented the national awards to teachers since he assumed the office of President in July 2017.

Though the coveted award is traditionally conferred on school teachers by the President every year, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu presented it to the winners in 2017 and 2018.

Shashikumar received the national award for his exemplary contribution in infrastructure development of his school, development of teachers’ training modules and creation of a school wiki for the benefit of students.

“He has set up smart classrooms and has developed e-content. He is a state resource person for training teachers of science and computer science across the state. He contributes to radio programme for SSLC examination-oriented classes,” Shashikumar's award citation read.

Marakala, a police officer-turned-teacher, developed innovative ways of teaching through ‘Jeevan Shikshan’ programme.

“He imparted Gandhi’s basic education concepts to the students through enjoyable activities. He has published poems, short stories and articles in state-level newspapers and journals. He teaches social science through activities including plumbing and mask-making,” Marakala's award citation read.

Revathy received the national award from the President for her innovative ways of teaching Hindi to her students at Kendriya Vidyalaya. She developed e-content for teaching Hindi in the higher secondary stage.

“She has been a member of the editorial board at regional level and judged competitions at national level. She was a key member in the development of simple teacher friendly calendar for continuous and comprehensive evaluation. She is a convener for class X and XII study material and a master trainer for class VI new textbook,” her award citation read.

Addressing the event, the President exhorted the teachers to focus on building character of their pupils, besides providing quality education to them.