President Droupadi Murmu will confer the National Awards to Teachers (NAT) 2026 on 21 teachers and faculty members from higher education institutions (HEIs) and polytechnics at Vigyan Bhawan here on September 5, the Ministry of Education said.
The awardees include 12 teachers from central higher education institutions, five from state universities and colleges, including three government and two private institutions, and four faculty members from polytechnics, equally divided between government and private institutions.
Nominations for the awards were invited online through the Rashtriya Puraskar Portal from May 26 to July 20. The process allowed self, institutional and peer nominations as part of the government’s Jan Bhagidari initiative.
The awards recognise teachers and faculty members for exemplary contribution to education. Selection is based on parameters including teaching-learning effectiveness, outreach activities, research and innovation, sponsored research, faculty development programmes and consultancy teaching.
The selection is carried out in two stages. A Preliminary Search-cum-Screening Committee first shortlists nominees, following which a Jury Committee selects the final awardees.
The National Awards to Teachers were expanded in 2023 to include teachers and faculty members from higher education institutions and polytechnics. Earlier, the awards were limited to school teachers.
The expansion was aimed at supporting the vision of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which calls for incentives, rewards and recognition to promote a culture of excellence across the education ecosystem.
