On the eve of Teachers’ Day, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and State Education Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday said that the numbers of Teachers’ Awards have been increased to 122 from 103 this year.

“This year’s Teachers’ Awards will be special. We have made some changes to the criteria for the awards. Earlier, awards were given based on academic performance only. We have increased the number of awards to 122 from 103,” said Deputy CM.

“Earlier, only teachers who had been teaching for 15 years were eligible for the awards. We have reduced it to three years. Also, there was a restriction that only four teachers can apply from a school which we have removed this year,” said Sisodia.

“It was also decided that for awards, the major criteria would be the remarkable works done by teachers during the COVID pandemic,” stated Sisodia.

“This year, we received 1108 applications for the awards. The 122 awardees will be felicitated in a grand ceremony tomorrow,” he further added.

Sisodia also announced that this year, the state government has introduced two ‘Face of DoE (Directorate of Education)’ awards for the teachers doing any remarkable work, not just in teaching but in the contribution, which has been promoting the educational sector.

The Delhi Education Minister lauded two teachers who have bagged ‘Face of DoE’ awards are Raj Kumar and Suman Arora.

“Raj Kumar has entered his name in the Guinness Book of Records by playing the Sitar for over 32 hours. Suman Arora, an IITian, took an initiative to teach students for competitive exams separately,” Sisodia told the reporters.

“23 students taught by Suman Arora cleared JEE Mains and five students cleared to JEE Advance last year. She keeps a portion of her salary reserved for support needy students preparing for competitive exams,” he added.

Later in the day, the Minister tweeted that “Teachers will also be rewarded for helping people during the COVID crisis by going beyond the call of duty. 122 teachers will be awarded in 13 categories like HOS, special education, sports, librarian, mentors, RPVV, EVGC, Misc, guest teachers, MCD, Face of DoE etc.”

Teachers’ Day in India is celebrated annually on September 5 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. He was a renowned scholar, recipient of Bharat Ratna, first Vice-President and second President of independent India. He was born on September 5, 1888.