118 teachers felicitated; CM vows to fix school infrastructure gaps
The Delhi Government on Saturday felicitated around 118 teachers and principals with state awards on Teachers’ Day, with Chief Minister Rekha Gupta saying the Government is working to improve education in the city by addressing gaps in school infrastructure as well as curriculum. Addressing the Shikshak Mahakumbh Award event 2026 at Thyagraj Stadium, she said the Government aimed to take education to “great heights”, but it had to begin by addressing basic facilities in schools.
“We want to take education to great heights and make a lot of progress, but the previous Governments did not do anything in 12 years. So, after coming to power, we have had to start working from a very low level,” she said. The chief minister said the Government was working on repairing toilets, ensuring water facilities, maintenance, whitewashing and other repair works in schools.
“Many schools had very poor toilet facilities. Once, I went for an inspection to a very good and reputed school, which the previous Government used to boast about. When I saw it, there was no gate in the toilet. How would our girl students have been using it?” she said.
A total of 118 teachers were honoured in different categories. These included 20 HoSs, 69 teachers from DoE and MCD schools, and teachers from three CM Shri Schools. Librarians, special educators and sports teachers, among others who have made notable contributions in different areas of education, were also honoured.
Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood, Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra, MP Bansuri Swaraj, MLAs Abhay Verma, Neeraj Basoya and Chandan Kumar Chaudhary, among several other public representatives, Education Department Director Ankita Anand, senior officials, and teachers, principals, vice-principals, students and other dignitaries from various schools were present at the event.
The Chief Minister said teachers are the strong foundation of society. They do not merely impart textbook knowledge to students, but also instill values, skills, confidence, a sense of duty and the right direction in life. A teacher’s influence does not remain limited to an individual student, but contributes to shaping an entire generation.
“As long as our Government is in power, all good work concerning the education and future of children will be undertaken, and even more good work will be done. Whatever deficiencies remain will be fulfilled,” she said.
The chief minister said 170 modern language labs are being established in Delhi’s schools to strengthen students’ language and communication skills. These include 70 CM Shri Schools and 100 other Government schools.
Alongside this, initiatives such as Neev, Rashtraneeti and NIPUN Sankalp are being used to strengthen entrepreneurship, innovation, problem-solving, democratic values, and foundational literacy and numeracy among students.
Apart from infrastructure, the Government was also working on courses and curriculum, the chief minister said, adding that the Education Department and Education Minister Ashish Sood were continuously working on these issues.
Referring to the resolve to make Delhi free of begging, the chief minister said the first step is to ensure that no child is deprived of education. She appealed to teachers, institutions and citizens to make collective efforts to bring any child found out of school into the mainstream of education.
Speaking on the occasion, Education Minister Ashish Sood said the recruitment process for 10,417 teachers has been initiated to address the shortage of teachers. Provision has also been made for the recruitment of 613 special teachers so that students with special needs can receive better educational support.
During the programme, NCC cadets presented a guard of honour to the Chief Minister, followed by a welcome song by a group of music teachers. Children in traditional attire also welcomed the guests.
