Tribal school teacher selected for National Award to Teachers 2020

This year’s National Award to Teachers 2020 holds special significance for Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) established under Ministry of Tribal Affairs as it witnessed its first NAT Awardee, Sudha Painuli, Vice Principal, EMRS-Kalsi, Dehradun, Uttarakhand since its establishment.

Union Ministry of Education (formerly Ministry of Human Resource Development), Department of School Education & Literacy constituted an Independent Jury at National Level to bestow the National Award to Teachers (NAT) for the year 2020.

Sudha Painuli made it to the list of 47 outstanding teachers selected after 3-stage rigorous online transparent process. The most unique features about her expedition constitute innovative experiments like initiative of Eklavya Birthday Garden, Theatre in Education, Eklavya Tribal Museum, Skill Development Workshops, and so on.

Her steadfast achievement institutes the efforts of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs made in the right direction creating a fine balance between academic education and all-round development of the tribal students.

Sudha was congratulated by Minister of Tribal Affairs (MoTA), Arjun Munda who shares, “In reality, it is a huge achievement for EMRS. In the history of Eklavya, it is the first time an EMRS teacher, Smt. Sudha Painuli has been selected for National Award.”

Her achievement is a testament of Government’s efforts to provide quality education to tribal students. This achievement will motivatethe entire EMRS teacher fraternity to showcase their excellence in the education field.

EMRS started in the year 1997-98 to impart quality education to ST children in remote areas in order to enable them to avail of opportunities in high and professional educational courses and get employment in various sectors.

Across the country, as per census 2011 figures, there are 564 such sub-districts out of which there is an EMRS in 102 sub-districts. In its continuous journey of expansion, 462 new schools have to be opened by the year 2022.

As per revised 2018 EMRS Scheme, every block with more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal persons, will have an Eklavya Model Residential School by the year 2022. These schools will be on par with Navodaya Vidyalayas and will have special facilities for preserving local art and culture besides providing training in sports and skill development.

As Eklavya Model Residential Schools continue their journey to enable tribal students to pursue quality education, many more triumphs as these in the upcoming times will make the educational expedition worth its while.