The School Voice Association, an association of all private schools, have requested the School Education Minister to institute ‘Tamil Nadu Best Teacher Awards’.
In a petition to the Minister, the association said, “The proposal seeks to extend State-level recognition to deserving teachers from all recognised school education boards — including play schools, nursery and primary, matriculation, matriculation higher secondary, CBSE, CBSE Senior Secondary, IGCSE, and Cambridge International Schools — across all 38 districts of Tamil Nadu.”
They noted that the State government has been awarding the Dr. Radhakrishnan Best Teacher Award to government school teachers since the 1970s and then extending to Matriculation and Anglo-Indian Schools.
Pointing out that the education landscape has since undergone vast changes, the general secretary of the association, M.J. John Arokia Prabhu said that over 50% of the students in the State are now studying in private unaided schools, according to recent reports.
“Thousands of highly dedicated teachers serving in these recognised private institutions contribute immensely to quality education. Despite their remarkable service, teachers belonging to many school boards do not have an opportunity to receive State-level recognition under the existing award structure,” the petition stated.
The association said that an award for a teacher in eight categories — play school teacher, nursery and primary school teacher, matriculation school teacher, matriculation higher secondary school teacher, CBSE school teacher, CBSE senior secondary school teacher, IGCSE school teacher and Cambridge International school teacher — should be given.
They requested the Minister to create these awards for each district and constitute a transparent District-Level Selection Committees for each category.
