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President Droupadi Murmu conferred the National Awards to Teachers in New Delhi on 5 September 2026, Teachers' Day.
Eighty-two teachers and educators were selected this year across three streams — 48 from the Department of School Education and Literacy, 21 from higher educational institutions and polytechnics, and 13 skill trainers from the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
The President said education is the most effective means of realising the constitutional ideal of equality of opportunity and credited teachers with India's negligible primary school dropout rate.
The Prime Minister had interacted with the awardees at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg the previous day, raising drug awareness, excessive screen time and the National Education Policy's push to connect classrooms with real-world skills.
Teachers' Day is observed on 5 September, the birth anniversary of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
Recognise the contribution of outstanding teachers to nation-building
Key: Instituted 1958; run by the Department of School Education and Literacy; three-stage online selection from district to national jury; conferred on Teachers' Day
Restructure school and higher education and make teaching a respected, well-trained profession
Key: Approved by the Union Cabinet on 29 July 2020, drafted by the committee chaired by Dr K. Kasturirangan; replaces the National Policy on Education 1986; introduces the 5+3+3+4 school structure and targets 50% gross enrolment ratio in higher education by 2035
National Initiative for School Heads' and Teachers' Holistic Advancement — large-scale in-service teacher capacity building
Key: Launched 21 August 2019 under Samagra Shiksha for about 42 lakh elementary teachers and school heads; taken online on the DIKSHA platform from 6 October 2020, with NISHTHA 3.0 on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy launched 7 September 2021
Flagship short-term skilling scheme delivering industry-relevant training
Key: Run by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, the ministry that nominated the 13 skill trainers among this year's awardees
One of the two departments of the Ministry of Education; administers the National Awards to Teachers, Samagra Shiksha and NISHTHA
Nodal ministry for skilling; parent of PMKVY, the National Skill Development Corporation and the National Council for Vocational Education and Training
Confers the awards; the office is created by Article 52 and the President is elected by an electoral college under Article 54
| Aspect | Teachers' Day (India) | World Teachers' Day |
|---|---|---|
| Date | 5 September | 5 October |
| Observed since | Radhakrishnan's presidency (1962 onward) | 1994 |
| Commemorates | Birth anniversary of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (born 1888) | Signing of the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, 1966 |
| Lead body | Ministry of Education, Government of India | UNESCO, with the ILO |
The President linked education to this constitutional ideal, which appears in the Preamble and in Articles 14-16, and is reinforced by Article 21A's right to free and compulsory education for ages 6 to 14
The statutory route through which the primary-education access the President credited to teachers was delivered
He held the King George V Chair of Mental and Moral Science at Calcutta University and the Spalding Chair at Oxford before entering public office — the scholar-president lineage exams like to test
General Awareness > Awards and Honours; Important Days
GS Paper 2 > Governance > Social Sector: Education
Teachers' Day and Radhakrishnan facts recur almost annually in SSC and Railway general awareness papers
The Centre's integrated scheme for school education from pre-school to Class XII, under which NISHTHA runs
The national digital infrastructure for school education, used to deliver NISHTHA training online
Enrolment at a level of education as a percentage of the population in the corresponding age group; NEP 2020 targets 50% GER in higher education by 2035