K'taka has only 4 national best teacher award winners since 2013; selection process to blame?

Umar Sharieef | NT

Bengaluru: Karnataka, despite being one of the best performers in terms of education in the country, has the lowest number of teachers winning the National Best Teacher Award along with Telangana.

The number of best teacher award winners in the state from 2013 to 2023 stands at a mere four after Andhra Pradesh (5), Tamil Nadu (7), Kerala (6) and Telangana (4). According to academicians, one of the reasons for the low number of National Teacher Award winners is the quality of education in the state, which is considered not as high as in other southern states.

Niranjanaradhya, an academician, argued the state does not lack resources, infrastructure, or lack of commitment from the government and yet has the low rate.

He claimed the selection for the National Best Teacher Award is not fair and transparent.

''Teachers themselves have to apply for the award, which is not encouraging,'' he said.

The selection process is not made public. Arguing that most teachers may not know how to apply, he said, this could be one key reason for the low number of winners from Karnataka.

Academics also wanted the state government to intervene and promote the award by encouraging teachers to apply for it. For Teachers Day honours this year, the Ministry of Education selected 75 teachers for national awards.

Under the Higher Educational Institution category, the ministry selected Karnataka’s Dr SR Mahadeva Prasanna, professor, IIT Dharwad and Dr Dinesh Babu J, associate professor, IIIT, Bengaluru.

The teachers selected by the Ministry of Skill Development are Pooja Singh, training officer, National Skill Training Institute, Bangalore, and Divya L, training officer.