Also, in a bid to promote teachings of ancient languages such as Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian, the HRD Ministry headed by Smriti Irani has raised the number of teachers being awarded under this category from 20 to 23.
For Sanskrit, 17 teachers have been selected, while six teachers have been picked for the award under Arabic and Persian language.
According to sources in the HRD ministry, around 378 teachers would be conferred with the award, which is given for their outstanding performance in schools during the whole academic season.
“The HRD Ministry is under the process to finalise the names of 378 best teachers, who will be felicitated with the award on September 5, which is celebrated as Teacher’s Day, by President of India. The ministry has doubled the award money from Rs 25,000 to Rs <g data-gr-id="28">50,000,</g> while other clauses such as <g data-gr-id="27">40 gram</g> silver coin and a certificate remain same,” a source said.
The highest number of teachers selected for the award is from Maharashtra, which is under the rule of <g data-gr-id="32">BJP,</g> while the names of 28 teachers have been finalised from Samajwadi Party ruled Uttar Pradesh. Only nine teachers have been chosen from Bihar and 16 from Gujarat.
The scheme also covers teachers of the schools affiliated to CBSE, including teachers of independent affiliated schools situated abroad, ICSCE, Sainik School, KVS, NVS, CTSA and schools run by the Atomic Energy Education Society.
The scheme also gives ‘special awards’ to teachers promoting integrated inclusive education in schools and promote the education of children with disabilities in regular schools by states/UTs and <g data-gr-id="25">other school system</g>.