Shilong (Meghalaya), Aug 22 : Shillong’s Rahul Chaterjee , a lecturer at the Jail Road Boys’Higher Secondary School has been selected for the National Teachers Day Award 2020 .
The award would be handed over by the President of India.
Earlier, Rahul Chatterjee had received the “International High School Teacher Programme (HST2019) fellowship for a two-week training programme in July 2019 at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland.
The selection for this was through an open international competition of physics teachers. The application was processed online and it was an arduous task wherein one had to put up evidence of previous achievements and tasks accomplished in science popularization. Chatterjee had been selected from among hundreds of applicants. He was the only one selected for this programme from India! He is to represented the country and worked with forty-seven other physics teachers from all over the world.
Chatterjee is not new to being awarded recognition for his excellent work. Earlier in the year 2009, Chatterjee had been conferred with the “Science Teacher Award” by the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) NER Local Chapter. This is a regional award given to a science/maths teacher annually from among eight states north-eastern states.
In the year 2012, Rahul Chatterjee had again through open competition received the “International Leaders in Education Programme (ILEP) fellowship to the United States. This was a five-month long programme where teachers from different countries were given training on best practices in teaching methodologies and use of technology in education.
Chatterjee’s ‘first love’ has always been physics. He is an excellent teacher within the four walls of the classroom and beyond. Rahul regularly gives lectures on science popularization. He is regularly invited to conduct workshops for teachers as he is involved with teacher-training in methodology and content.
Chatterjee’s Science Popularization work includes writing articles in books and magazines and for radio and television as well. Developing teacher training modules, developing e-resources, working with Development and Educational Communications Unit of ISRO to develop Physics lessons are all part of his engagements.
As congratulatory messages keep pouring in, Rahul feels “overwhelmed” while his admirers look forward to celebrating his next milestone.