Govt to honour 100 best HMs with awards every year

CHENNAI: For the first time, the Tamil Nadu government has decided to honor 100 best headmasters in the state-run schools every year by giving them state-level awards.

At present, the state-level Dr Radhakrishnan Award were given only to the best teachers in the government and government-aided schools every year according to their performance.

A senior official from the School Education Department told DT Next that the good works of many headmasters especially in government schools go unnoticed every year. “Their performances were not projected as it was done to the teachers,” he said adding “therefore, the state government has decided to honour them every year by giving the ‘Arignar Anna Leadership’ award.

The official pointed out that apart from getting a citation and a shield, each headmaster will also receive Rs 10 lakh as a school fund, which could be utilised for improving the infrastructure of the institution.

Stating that 100 school headmasters will be selected from elementary to higher secondary level schools, he said a separate panel (jury) comprising academicians and authorities from the School Education Department will be formed for this purpose.

Pointing out that at present, a total of 37,387 government schools were functioning across the state catering to more than 70 lakh students, the official said, “the panel would seek performance reports from all the headmasters in these schools and the report, which would be provided by the headmasters, will have prescribed format.”

He said the performance index will be calculated based on the headmasters’ contribution to education, sports, students’ performance, and infrastructure development of schools besides the successful implementation of ‘Illam Thedi Kalvi.’

“In addition, the headmasters should also be successful in the operations of the School Management Committee (SMC), which also plays a vital part in improving the schools,” he added.

The official said after collecting the reports from the headmasters, the best-performing school will be shortlisted based on the data. “The jury members will visit the selected school and would inspect all the activities based on the report,” he said adding that the panel will also check performance of school with regard to implementation of students’ welfare scheme, including distribution of freebies to the children.