Mohd Ayaz Raina, a Botany lecturer at Government Higher Secondary School Dalhori in Rajouri district, has been selected for the National Award to Teachers 2026, becoming the only teacher from Jammu and Kashmir chosen for the national honour this year.
The award will be presented by President Droupadi Murmu at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on September 5, observed nationally as Teachers’ Day. Raina will be among 48 school teachers selected from across the country for recognition during the annual ceremony.
His selection follows 13 years of service in education and brings national attention to the work of a teacher serving in a frontier district with difficult geography. Raina has described the recognition as a collective achievement involving his students, colleagues, educational institutions and family members who supported his work.
Raina has previously received the National ICT Award in 2017 and the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory Best Teacher Award in 2021. Other honours associated with his work include the Global Teacher Award 2021 and Global Best Educational Poster Award 2020. His latest selection places that record of teaching and educational innovation within the country’s principal official recognition programme for school educators.
The 2026 national awards include teachers from 27 states, seven Union Territories and six organisations of the Central Government. Of the 48 recipients, 26 are men and 22 are women. Short documentaries highlighting the work of individual awardees are scheduled to be shown during the presentation ceremony.
The Department of School Education and Literacy conducts the programme every year to recognise educators who have contributed to improving school education and enriching the lives of students. The 2026 recipients were selected through a three-stage process at district, state and national levels.
Eligible teachers were invited to submit online self-nominations between June 15 and July 20. The national process is designed to examine the contribution of teachers through successive stages rather than treating the award as a simple nomination-based honour.
Raina’s selection has particular relevance for Rajouri, where schools often serve communities spread across hilly and remote areas. Teachers in such districts work within varied infrastructure, connectivity and accessibility conditions, making sustained educational engagement especially important.
The recognition also draws attention to the role of government-school teachers in introducing new teaching methods and using technology within the classroom. Raina’s earlier National ICT Award indicates that educational technology has been an established part of his professional record.
The recognition is also likely to encourage greater attention to innovative teaching practices in government schools across the Union Territory. It provides a visible example of how sustained classroom work in a remote district can receive national acknowledgement.
The formal award ceremony will be held on September 5 and will be broadcast through national education and public broadcasting platforms. Until then, the selection itself stands as the confirmed recognition of Jammu and Kashmir’s sole recipient in this year’s list of 48 National Teachers Award winners.
