President Murmu to confer national awards to teachers on Teachers’ Day

New Delhi, Aug 25 (INB) President Droupadi Murmu will confer the National Awards to Teachers (NAT) 2026 on 21 teachers and faculty members from higher education institutions and polytechnics at Vigyan Bhawan here on September 5, the Ministry of Education said. This year, 12 awardees are from central higher education institutions, five from state universities and colleges, and four from polytechnics the ministry said on Monday. Among the five awardees from state universities, three are from government institutions and two from private colleges. Of the four polytechnic awardees, two are from government and two from private institutions, it said. Nominations for the 2026 awards were invited online through the Rashtriya Puraskar Portal from May 26 to July 20. The process allowed self, institutional and peer nominations as part of the Jan Bhagidari initiative, the ministry said. The awards recognise exemplary teachers and faculty members based on parameters including teaching-learning effectiveness, outreach activities, research and innovation, sponsored research, faculty development programmes and consultancy teaching, it added. The selection process involved two stages — initial shortlisting by a Preliminary Search-cum-Screening Committee, followed by selection of awardees from the shortlisted nominees by a Jury Committee. The Ministry of Education said the National Awards to Teachers were expanded in 2023 to include two categories covering teachers and faculty members from HEIs and polytechnics. Earlier, the awards were conferred only on school teachers. The expansion was undertaken in line with the vision of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasises incentives, rewards and recognition to foster a culture of excellence across the education ecosystem, the ministry said.