Barabanki teacher to be honoured with ICT award

LUCKNOW: Ashutosh Anand Awasthi, teacher in an upper primary school in Miyanganj village of Barabanki had no knowledge of computer and technology till a few years ago.

A native of a nearby village, Awasthi laid his hands on a computer for the first time with his students when the school got a computer from the education department.

That is when the e-learning journey began for this government school. The use of technology in teaching became so common and affected the students’ learning so much that Ashutosh Anand Awasthi was selected for the Information and Communication Technology(ICT) award that will be conferred on him at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on Teacher’s Day.

Awasthi is the first in Uttar Pradesh to have been selected for the award that would be given to 11 teachers across the country. The awards were started in New Delhi more than a decade ago, but no teacher from UP has ever won the coveted prize.

“I hail from a village in Barabanki and have had my education here only. So naturally, a computer was as new to me as to my students. But we learnt it together. I am glad that my students access internet today and learn the tricks of making science models from it,” said an elated Awasthi.

After the education department gave a computer to the school around four years back, the block education officer facilitated internet connection and later gifted a mini projector to the school.

“I had no idea how the internet and computer were to be operated. But I learnt for my students and that too through practice,” said Awasthi.

Today, nearly all students of the school have an email id. They access internet to read current affairs and learn science models. “My students have made a number of models using waste material. They learnt it through the Internet. The students have made JCB models, electric motor and hydraulic models,” he added.

Learning through CDs of State Council Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and other e material related to the curriculum is a regular practice in the school.

“You ask my students about any current happenings in the country and they will tell you. They know the names of all 75 districts of UP, they have capitals and currencies on their finger tips. All this and a lot more learning has been fun for them because of Internet,” said Ashutosh Anand Awasthi.

Four teachers from the state were nominated for the award. The teachers were required to give presentations of their works before a panel in New Delhi in December.

The final announcements of the winners were made recently.

I I hail from a village in Barabanki and have had my education here only... I had no idea how the internet and computer were to be operated. But I learnt for my students and that too through practice ASHUTOSH ANAND AWASTHI, school teacher