Farmers Movement Archive

Teacher’s Day: Delhi govt to felicitate teachers who went above and beyond teaching

NEW DELHI: This year’s state teachers awards honour the work done during the trying Covid-19 pandemic, when schools and teachers suddenly found themselves confronting new realities and the need to adapt to the circumstance. Some realised students, especially those from economically disadvantaged families, had to have smartphones to be able to follow online lessons while others ensured a sense of normality by focusing on sports and cultural activities. Bharti Kalra, 51, vice-principal of Government Co-ed Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, Sector 8, Rohini, can look behind with satisfaction at the work she did in getting smartphones for needy students. She mobilised people in her circle to donate smartphones and benefited 321 students, most of them in classes X-XII. Kalra will receive the Special Award on Teachers’ Day on Sunday. The honour is also being conferred on Sarita Rani Bhardwaj, 57, who was then in a Paschim Vihar school and took extra steps to connect the missing Class VI students to online learning during the lockdown. Bhardwaj, who is now a teacher in Mangolpuri, recalled, “I first asked students on the WhatsApp group to take the help of their fathers and go around their colony locating missing schoolchildren. When this didn’t yield the expected results, I asked people at a local shop to visit the addresses of the students. given. Even after this, there still were many children not participating in online classes, so I paid a courier delivery boy and asked him to reach the addresses and give them my phone number.” Maths teacher Suman Arora, 44, is being honoured as the Face of Directorate of Education for her contribution in creating support material for the Class XII students. Under her guidance, over 20 students have been able to clear the engineering entrance exams. Asked what she did differently, Arora said, “I give students the short fixes for solving maths questions. I also counsel them and have even assisted them financially.” Music teacher Raj Kumar too has been deemed the Face of DoE. Professors and assistant professors at the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) are also being honoured this year. Meena Sehrawat, assistant professor, at DIET, Ghuman Hera, has been involved with research work related to the teacher development co-ordinator at Delhi government schools. She also has come out with several publications. “English is a second language for our students, so I have been working for 22 years to teach the language in a play-way method,” said the 47-year-old. Like her, there are some writer-teachers on the honours list. Tej Pal, history lecturer at GSV Hiran Kudna, has authored books on sports, especially on wrestling, while Anil Kumar, Sanskrit lecturer at Government Boys’ Senior Secondary School, Tikri Kalan, has been conferred with Sahitya Ratan Samman 2020 for his significant contribution to uplifting Hindi and Sanskrit language and literature among the teaching fraternity. Happily, Lalit Kumar, the wrestling coach who had trained Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Dahiya, will also receive an award. Kumar has been working at Chhatrasal Stadium as a wrestling coach on contract since 2013.

The Times of India

2021-09-05

Delhi