On September 5, 2022, Teachers’ Day in India, President Droupadi Murmu and the Ministry of Education of India presented forty-five educators from across the country with the National Award to Teachers. Two Fulbright Teacher Exchange alumni, Amit Kumar and Jainus Jacob, were among the esteemed educators. The award honors elementary and secondary educators who, through their dedication and hard work, have not only enhanced the quality of schooling, but also the lives of their pupils.
In naming Amit Kumar for the award, the Ministry of Education cited his work expanding technology education through blended learning and flipped classroom approaches in a rural community of Himachal Pradesh. Amit, a computer science teacher, was a Fulbrighter in the fall of 2021 at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. “The research-based experience I acquired during Fulbright was incredible, and the learning through educators from different countries and from different domains has transformed me into a better educator and trainer.”
Jainus Jacob, an elementary teacher from Kerala, has been recognized with several awards during her teaching career. This latest from the Ministry of Education is due, in large part, to her integration of art and imagination into the environmental science classroom. Jainus completed her Fulbright Teacher Exchange at Arizona State University in the spring of 2020. “Being a part of [Fulbright] is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a life-changing experience,” she reflected.
