Guruvar Awardslaunched on the eve of Teachers Day

Updated on: Monday, September 07, 2009

Mumbai: Sparking a national movement to honour outstanding teachers across India, Varkey Gems Foundation today announced the launch of ‘Guruvar Awards’ to coincide with teacher’s day.

To be held in December this year, the award marks the establishment of a movement to acknowledge the role of teachers in shaping the future of India. The nominations will begin around September with 48 teachers being recognised and felicitated for their invaluable contribution across four categories. The total prize money is Rs two crore.

This award aims to endow teachers with the recognition and respect they so richly deserve by felicitating them. People across the nation will be urged to nominate their favourite teacher. A dedicated online process has been set up for this purpose. Awardees will be selected through an intensive selection process comprising of online nominations, reviews and interviews. Winners will be decided over a process involving pan-India nominations, four zonal juries and one grand jury.

A strategic advisory panel comprising of eminent personalities to guide the course of the awards will be appointed along with juries at various levels. The newly revised categories are ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’, ‘Outstanding Indian Teacher’, ‘Outstanding Young Indian teacher’ and ‘Outstanding Indian teacher of Children with Special Needs’.

This non-profit, non-commercial initiative is targeting a pan-India audience. The Guruvar Award aims to leverage the “Education for Social Sustainability” platform to showcase a critical situation to an audience who has an interest and is concerned for the future of his/ her country.

Sunny Varkey, Founder and Chairman, GEMS Education and Chairperson of the Varkey Gems Foundation says, "Deteriorating motivational cues in the profession has led to a dearth of quality teachers in India today. This award is aimed as a catalyst to promote teaching as a preferred profession amongst youth in India and to thank teachers for their praise worthy contribution in shaping lives of our future generations.

Guruvar Awardslaunched on the eve of Teachers Day

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