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President of India Smt Droupadi Murmu will confer the National Teachers Awards on 48 school teachers at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on 5 September 2026.
The 48 awardees come from 27 States, 7 Union Territories and 6 organisations of the Central Government, and include 26 men and 22 women; they were selected through a three-stage process at district, state and national levels by the Department of School Education & Literacy.
Online self-nominations were invited from 15 June 2026 to 20 July 2026; the ceremony will be telecast on Doordarshan and the Ministry's SWAYAM PRABHA channels and streamed live at webcast.gov.in/moe.
Honour the unique contribution of the country's finest school teachers and recognise those who have improved the quality of school education and enriched the lives of their students.
Key: First instituted in 1958; conferred by the President on Teachers Day (5 September); administered by the Department of School Education & Literacy under the overall supervision of the Ministry of Education, through an online self-nomination route and a three-stage district-state-national selection; carries a silver medal, a certificate and Rs 50,000.
Improve the quality of school education through integrated capacity building of teachers and school heads.
Key: Launched on 21 August 2019 by the Department of School Education & Literacy as part of the Samagra Shiksha centrally sponsored scheme, aimed at building the capacities of around 42 lakh teachers and principals; described as the world's largest teacher training programme of its kind, later delivered online through the DIKSHA platform.
Upgrade existing government schools into exemplar schools demonstrating all components of NEP 2020.
Key: A centrally sponsored scheme launched in September 2022 to develop more than 14,500 schools, with a total outlay of Rs 27,360 crore over five years from 2022-23. Several of this year's awardees teach in PM SHRI schools.
Deliver high-quality educational content free to air, round the clock, to learners without reliable internet access.
Key: A group of DTH channels of the Ministry of Education telecasting educational programmes 24x7 using the GSAT-15 satellite; the awards ceremony will be carried live on these channels.
Sets the current teacher-reform agenda: a common National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) to be developed by the National Council for Teacher Education in consultation with NCERT, SCERTs, teachers and expert organisations; a four-year integrated B.Ed. from a multidisciplinary higher education institution as the minimum degree qualification for school teachers by 2030; and at least 50 hours of continuous professional development for every teacher every year.
Provides the statutory basis for teacher qualifications and pupil-teacher norms in elementary schools, requiring teachers to possess the minimum qualifications laid down by the academic authority notified by the Centre - the framework within which teacher eligibility tests operate.
Constitutes the NCTE as a statutory body for the planned and coordinated development of the teacher education system and for regulating norms and standards in teacher education - the body NEP 2020 charges with framing the National Professional Standards for Teachers.
One of the two departments of the Ministry of Education, the other being the Department of Higher Education. It administers school education and literacy, runs Samagra Shiksha, NISHTHA, PM SHRI and PM POSHAN, and organises the National Teachers Awards function every year on Teachers Day.
Statutory body established under the NCTE Act, 1993 for the planned and coordinated development of teacher education and the regulation of norms and standards in teacher education institutions; tasked by NEP 2020 with framing the National Professional Standards for Teachers.
Apex resource organisation for school education that develops curriculum frameworks, textbooks and teacher training material, and is consulted on the National Professional Standards for Teachers.
Education was moved from the State List to the Concurrent List by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976, which is what allows a national award scheme and national policies such as NEP 2020 to operate alongside State school systems.
NEP 2020's NPST, the four-year integrated B.Ed. and the 50-hour annual continuous professional development requirement are the policy answers to the learning-outcome gaps documented by national learning surveys - the standard GS2 argument that teacher reform must precede curriculum reform.
Like the Padma Awards and the National Sports Awards, the National Awards to Teachers are conferred by the President; the award-and-ministry pairing is a common static GK question.
SWAYAM PRABHA, DIKSHA and PM eVIDYA form the Ministry's multi-mode delivery stack, which NISHTHA used to run teacher training at scale.
General Awareness > Awards and Honours; Important Days
GS Paper 2 > Governance > Issues relating to Development and Management of Education
Awards and important days are staple SSC and Railway General Awareness content, and the year's awardee count and venue are commonly asked in the weeks after Teachers Day.
Award first instituted in 1958, conferred by the President on 5 September, administered by the Department of School Education & Literacy; carries a silver medal, a certificate and Rs 50,000.
National Initiative for School Heads' and Teachers' Holistic Advancement - the integrated teacher training programme launched on 21 August 2019 under Samagra Shiksha.
National Professional Standards for Teachers - the common competency standards NEP 2020 asks the NCTE to frame in consultation with NCERT and SCERTs.
Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India - centrally sponsored scheme launched in September 2022 to upgrade over 14,500 schools as NEP 2020 exemplar schools, with an outlay of Rs 27,360 crore.