Odisha: Teachers’ Potentiality For National Award Needs To Be Recognized

Report by Badal Tah; Rayagada : District Education Office is the competent authority to recommend national award for the teachers in Raygada district. But the authorities concerned are yet to do the needful in recommending the names of the competent teachers to National Award Committee 2022. Sources said there was no district level selection committee formed for the National Teacher Award. The Education Department is yet to convene the meeting of district level selection committee in the scheduled time. As a result, the list of aspirant teachers of Raygada could not be included in the national teacher selection race.

The Ministry of Education has set the deadline for online applications for the National Teacher Awards by the end of June . For this, online application was scheduled till 12th July. Between 13th July and 22 July , the district level committee was suppose to scrutinize the applications and recommend those to the state level. Later, the state level committee should forward the application after due scrutiny between July 23 and July 31. The Union Ministry of Education has decided to select the final teachers’ award by a special jury committee within August 12. However due to gross negligence of the distinct education authority, the teachers failed to include their names in the selection process. The aspiring teachers of the district are not only disappointed but also mentally broken. In a tribal – dominated district like Rayagada , many talented teachers are gaining fame at the state level with their unique talent and increasing the district’s glory, while the officials’ lackadaisical attitude of incompetence has hindered their interest. No teacher from Rayagada district could be selected to the state level committee.

“The accountability must be fixed upon the erring district education authorities and they need to be taken to task”, lamented senior journo Kirti Chandra Sahu. He has drawn attention of the District Collector Ms Swadha Dev Singh, IAS to give justice to the teachers who applied for the award within stipulated time. He demanded before the state government and the district administration to take strict action in this regard. Attempts made to contact the DEO Rayagada were futile.

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