Srinagar,: A group of teachers on Friday staged a protest in Srinagar, alleging humiliation after the School Education Department dropped their names from the Best Teacher Award list at the last moment.
Dozens of teachers from various districts gathered outside Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s residence, raising slogans against what they called disrespect and administrative highhandedness. They said the department had arbitrarily altered the list of awardees just a day before Teachers’ Day celebrations.
The teachers pointed out that ten days ago, the department had announced that four educators from each district—one male, one female, one language teacher, and one teacher for Children With Special Needs—would be felicitated. Families had already begun celebrating after the names were finalized and published.
“Till September 4, our names were in the official list. Suddenly, without explanation, the department cut the awardees by half. This is not about the award itself, but about our dignity,” one protesting teacher said.
Several teachers, instead of attending the scheduled felicitation at SKICC Srinagar, marched to the CM’s residence to demand accountability.
Meanwhile, All Teachers Association J&K President, Mrignayani Slathia, wrote to the Director School Education Jammu questioning the credibility of the process. She alleged that some awardees had spent much of their service in administrative roles rather than classrooms.
“The Best Teacher Award should honour classroom excellence, but many nominees lack evidence of innovation, teaching material development, or consistent lesson planning,” her letter stated.
The association urged authorities to review the selection process to ensure only genuine classroom educators are recognised. Teachers warned they would continue to push for transparency, saying arbitrary decisions like this demoralize committed educators.
