No state awardees from city this Teachers’ Day

Ludhiana: Not even a single teacher from Ludhiana received the State Teacher Award 2019 at the state-level function on Teachers’ Day in Chandigarh on Thursday. However, two teachers from the city received certificates of appreciation.
Punjab education minister Vijay Inder Singla was the chief guest for the occasion.
During the function, the state award was conferred on 55 teachers and 17 others were given certificates of appreciation for notable contributions.
Disappointed over selection, district education officer (secondary) Swaranjit Kaur said: “There is no state awardee from Ludhiana this year as it is done on the basis of merit by the selection committee. However, there are two teachers who have received appreciation certificates.”
Navjot Sharma, who is a social science teacher and the head of Government Middle School, Gosal, Dehlon-2, and Hardeep Singh, a social science teacher in Government High School (Boys), Jarg, Khanna Block, were honoured with certificates appreciating their work in the field of education.
Navjot Sharma heads the Government Middle School in Gosal, Dehlon-2, which is almost 35km away from Ludhiana. He, along with 5 other teachers, has renovated the school building with Rs 18 lakh, which was collected from the community and grants over the years.
With this money, an RO has been installed in the school, uniforms have been provided to the students and free identity cards have been issued for the safety of the students.
When he had joined the school in 2012, the school had 33 students. This number declined over the years. However, due to his efforts, enrolments have increased and this year, 14 students from private schools have enrolled, taking the total to 43 students, who have also participated in district games.
Navjot said: “There were 33 students when I joined in 2012. This year, 14 students from private schools have taken admission here. Apart from this, the results are 100%.”
Hardeep Singh teaches social science in Government High School (Boys), Jarg, Khanna Block, which is almost 40km away from the city.
He had joined the school in 2012 when there were almost 165 students, but every year the number of students enrolled in the school continued to decline and eventually the enrolment dropped to 50.
Gradually, Hardeep undertook the renovation of the school by constructing three new rooms. Now, the schoool has over 100 students enrolled in it. Apart from this, various programmes are conducted in the school where parents and general public are invited.
Hardeep said: “We do not work for the award, we are here for the improvement of schools. I am happy with the staff and my team.”