Archana, who transformed primary school in Mancherial, gets national best teacher award
Nooguri Archana, headmistress of a primary government school, will receive the award from President Droupadi Murmu on September 5
Mancherial: Nooguri Archana, headmistress of a primary government school in the nondescript Rebbenapalli of Dandepalli mandal has been selected for the national best teacher award, recognising her contributions to the education sector. She will receive the award from President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi on September 5.
Archana said she was excited to receive the award from the President. It was a dream come true for a teacher to have been picked for the award. She thanked all those who extended her support to her in excelling in the field of education.
Enrolments increased from 34 to 275
Archana is credited with playing an instrumental role in enhancing the strength of the school. Due to her sustained efforts, the enrollment of the institution increased from 34 to 275 with 103 of them being girls. She could accomplish her goal by creating awareness among parents over a slew of amenities and fine quality of education. She was posted at the school, which was on the verge of closure, in November 2000.
Spends 25 % of salary on hiring instructors
Apart from enhancing enrolments and addressing dropouts, Archana, the daughter of a retired accountant from Mancherial town, spends 25 percent of her salary to engage instructors to teach karate, dance, and painting, and to hire auto-rickshaws to transport tribal students from remote areas. She collected 1,000 books and set up four steel racks for a library with the help of donors.
She said she managed to improve infrastructure such as a bore well, a purified water plant, furniture, five computers, two projectors, two additional classrooms by involving the community. Students who passed out from the school could get admission into government residential Schools and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya by performing well in entrance tests.
Pursuing PhD
Archana is also pursuing her PhD, in the role education played in the socio-cultural, political, and economic development of women, from Sridhar University in Pilani, Rajasthan. She authored a book ‘Transforming India by Means of National Education Policy 2020’, which was published in June.
