Lok Sabha Question No. 1636 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-13
Subject: National Teachers Award
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Ganesan Selvam, C.N. Annadurai, Dhanush M Kumar, Manjulata Mandal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1636 ANSWERED ON 13.02.2023

## National Teachers Award

## 1636. SHRI SELVAM G.: SHRI C. N. ANNADURAI: SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR: SHRIMATI MANJULATA MANDAL:

Will the Minister of Education be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  fixed  any  criteria  for  selection  of  teachers  for  grant  of  National Teachers Award;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  aims  and  objective  of  granting  National Teachers  Award to teachers;
- (c) the  number  of  teachers  awarded  National  Teachers  Award  during  the  last  three  years  and  the current year State-wise;
- (d) the details of funds allocated and utilized for this purpose;
- (e) whether  the  Government  has  any  proposal  to  give  out-of-turn  promotion  to  the  award  winning teachers and if so, the details thereof;
- (f) whether  the  Government  is  formulating  any  action  plan  to  set  standards  for  teachers  across  the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (g) the  number  of  teachers  trained  under  Teacher  Training  Programme  for  Teachers  in  the  State  of Tamil Nadu; and
- (h) the other steps taken by the Government to improve the quality of school education and enriching the lives of school students?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (DR. SUBHAS SARKAR)

(a) to (d) On-line applications are invited every year since 2018 from the eligible teachers on the portal throughout the country as per eligibility criteria fixed by the Government. Selection of teachers are being done  through  a  rigorous  three  stage  transparent  selection  process  at  District,  State  and  finally  by Independent Jury at National Level.  Financial allocation, utilization and no. of awardee under National Awards to Teachers during last three years and the current year are as under:

| Financial Year   |   Budget Allocated in Rs. lakh | Actual expenditure in Rs. lakh   |   Year of National Awards to Teachers |   No. of Teachers awarded |
|------------------|--------------------------------|----------------------------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------|
| 2019-20          |                            134 | 113.91                           |                                  2019 |                        46 |
| 2020-21          |                            150 | 68.49                            |                                  2020 |                        47 |
| 2021-22          |                            100 | 80.41                            |                                  2021 |                        44 |
| 2022-23          |                            500 | 360.00 (as on date)              |                                  2022 |                        45 |

(e) Government has no proposal to give out of turn promotion to Award winning teachers.

(f) Yes  Sir,  NPST  (National  Professional  Standards  for  Teachers),  as  envisaged  in  Para  5.20  of (National Education Policy) NEP 2020 is a public statement of what constitutes teacher quality. It defines the  work  of  teachers  and  makes  explicit  elements  of  high-quality,  effective  teaching  in  21st  century schools that will improve educational outcomes for students. It will govern the teaching profession in the country in relation to its professional role. In addition, NPST will aim to improve the teachers' personal and professional development by providing them an understanding of what is expected in terms of their performance and what needs to be done to enhance the same.

Ministry  of  Education  (MoE)  entrusted  the  task  of  NPST  to  NCTE  (National  Council  for  Teacher Education). Draft Guiding Document on NPST, which is a statement of quality and defines competencies of  teachers  at  different  stages/level  has  been  prepared.  Pilot  study  of  NPST  has  been  launched  in  75 government schools (25 KVs, 25 JNVs and 25 CBSE) across the country in July 2022.

- (g) The  Department  of  School  Education  and  Literacy  launched  a  National  Mission  to  improve learning  outcomes  at  the  Elementary  level  through  an  Integrated  Teacher  Training  Programme  called NISHTHA - National Initiative for School Heads' and Teachers' Holistic Advancement on 21 st  August, 2019 in face-to-face mode. Further, in wake of COVID-19 pandemic and in order to provide continuous learning opportunities to the teachers at the elementary level, Department had launched NISHTHA online using DIKSHA platform in October 2020 to reach out to remaining elementary teachers and its further extension to all as well.

NISHTHA: Coverage of Elementary Teachers - in the State of Tamil Nadu

| State      |   Face- to face Completed |   Online Completed |   Total Completed |
|------------|---------------------------|--------------------|-------------------|
| Tamil Nadu |                    138425 |                  0 |            138425 |

(h) In pursuance of the goals and objectives of the NEP 2020, several initiatives have been launched in School Education viz. National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) for ensuring foundational literacy and numeracy by the end of Grade 3, Vidya-Pravesh Guidelines for Three-month Play-based School Preparation Module; Indian Sign Language as a Subject at secondary  level  by  National  Institute  of  Open  Schooling;  NISHTHA  (National  Initiative  for  School Heads' and Teachers' Holistic Advancement) 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 Integrated Teacher Training Programme for different  stages  of  school  education  for  Teachers,  Head  Teachers/Principals  and  other  stakeholders  in Educational Management, SAFAL  (Structure Assessment for Analysing Learning Levels) for competency-based assessment in CBSE schools for grades 3, 5, and 8 etc.

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