Mumbai: In 2020, as the country went under lockdown to spread the curb of the Covid-19 pandemic, 40-year-old Shashikant Kulthe was one of the few teachers of his zilla parishad school in Beed who visited the homes of each of his 32 students to teach them.
Though classes went online, not everyone had high-speed internet access, and many of the rural students in particular were unable to learn. “Most of our students are from the tribal belt or their parents work in sugarcane fields, so owning mobile phones or computers and accessing internet was impossible. We decided to take the classroom to the students to ensure that no one missed out on education,” said Kulthe.
On September 5, celebrated as Teacher’s Day in honour of the first vice president of India, Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, three teachers from Maharashtra will be among the 46 to receive the National Award for Teachers (NAT) presented by President Droupadi Murmu. Kulthe is one of them.
Each year, thousands of teachers from different school education boards across states—both government and private — apply for these awards. Of them, 46 teachers (including two in the differently-abled section) are selected by the Union ministry of education. This year, three teacher awardees belong to Maharashtra including one from Mumbai. Besides Kulthe, Kavita Sanghvi (51), principal of Chatrabhuj Narsee Memorial School, an ICSE board school in Vile Parle, and Somnath Walke (40)—another Zilla Parishad School teacher from Beed will be presented the award.
“As teachers in a primary school we end up teaching all subjects to our students, but I understood that I’ll have to go beyond basic education degrees in order to reach out to these students,” Kulthe said. The 40-year-old learnt Urdu so that he could teach students who picked the language as a subject.
A teacher since the past 20 years at the local zilla parishad primary school, Kulthe also learnt the local language—Gormati — so that he could interact with his students. “I also published a book which translated phrases in Gormati to Marathi so that students could understand other subjects,” he said.
“My staff and students have been excited ever since the announcement was made and the entire experience is very humbling. As educators our work is all that speaks for us and to be acknowledged makes the journey worth it,” said Sanghvi, who has been in the profession for over 21 years and has served as the principal of various schools since 2013.
Sanghvi, who started her career as a teacher, is known for her innovative methods of teaching and encouraging more girl students towards science, technology, engineering and mathematics – together, these STEM subjects typically see lower enrollment of women – for which she has been felicitated by the state government as well.
Walke is a veteran awardee. In 2018, he was one of three teachers in Maharashtra who received the National Award for teachers using information and communication technology (ICT) for innovation in education awarded by the government of India. Raising funds with the help of non-government organisations, Walke transformed his zilla parishad school by setting up a fully-operational recording studio, a state-of-the-art virtual classroom and a 24-hour electricity back up.
“It is only with the encouragement of my school, students and their parents that I have managed to ensure that students get the best education possible. This award reinforces my belief in leaving no stone unturned when it comes to providing education to children,” said Walke.
