Govt school teacher who developed apps with students selected for national award

admin August 27, 2020August 27, 2020 0 Comments govt school, national award, national awards to teachers, school teachers, schools in the state, students in government schools

For the last two decades, Manoj Singh Lakra has been teaching Hindi to students in government schools across the city while simultaneously encouraging them to embrace technology. Lakhra, currently an elementary headmaster at Government Senior Secondary School, Bajghera, is among the 47 teachers in the country selected for the National Awards to Teachers, 2020. A Najafgarh resident, the 48-year-old is a native of Chudani village in Jhajjar and has been a teacher since 2001. He is best known for his contribution towards the creation of multiple mobile phone applications that are being used across schools in the state.

Under his guidance, students of Class 9 created six mobile apps in 2014. Two of these, an app for managing mid-day meals and another for the generation of e-mark sheets, were even adopted by the education department and are being used by schools across the state. In 2017, he collaborated with students in creating a GPS driven solar-plate summer helmet, which was aimed at improving compliance with road safety measures. This particular project was also awarded at the national level.

Lakra said that even though he was not trained in science and technology, he was driven by the urge of lending support to students who were not as well-versed with technology as students of private schools. “I might be a Hindi teacher by qualification but I always took an interest in sciences. I took the help of online tutorials and other resources for assisting students. We don’t get much time during the day due to back-to-back classes. Therefore, we hold discussions in extra classes after school hours,” said Lakra.

He said that the award was a recognition of the efforts that he had made along with the students. “Children in government schools often don’t come from backgrounds where technological devices are available to all. Despite all the challenges, our students and teachers have been striving to embrace technology and use it for useful purposes. This award will encourage more students and teachers to use science and technology in ways that will benefit society,” said Lakra.