313 Teachers To Be Honoured By Kalam

New Delhi, Sep 4 (UNI) As many as 313 teachers will be honoured by President APJ Abdul Kalam on Teachers' Day tomorrow to celebrate the contribution India's five million teachers make to the lives of 200 million students.

The National Awards to Teachers are given away on September 5 every year to publicly recognise meritorious teachers in primary, middle and secondary schools.

Recipients of National Awards this year include 77 lady teachers, eight Sanskrit teachers, three Arabic and Persian teachers and 14 teachers promoting inclusive education of children with disabilities.

Each Awardee along with a family member is invited to the Capital and treated as State guests for three days.

At the ceremonial presentation tomorrow, each will receive a Medal, a citation and a cash prize of Rs 25,000. Down the road, the awardees receive such facilities as retirement age extension and rail travel concessions.

The National Award to Teachers instituted in 1958 has over the decades become an event to commemorate the birth anniversary of India's second President, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who began his career as a teacher of Philosophy at Presidency College, Madras.

In all, selectors pick 366 teachers, including 20 teachers of Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic and 33 'Special' Awardees promoting integrated or inclusive education of children with disabilities in regular schools run by States, Union Territories and other school systems. Teachers with disabilities working in regular schools are also considered.

To be eligible, a class-room teacher should have put in 15 years of continuous service and Principals and Headmasters, 20 years.

Eligibility requirement for Special Awards is 10 and 15 years respectively.

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