Guruvar Awards
A National Movement to Honour Outstanding Teachers across India
The Guruvar Awards™, the biggest teachers’ award event, held on December 23, 2009, was a non-profit, non-commercial initiative that aimed to recognize, honor and reward school teachers across India, by showcasing the impact that teachers have on their students and community.
The Guruvar movement was designed and developed by Indian Expressions, for one of its clients, to remember and appreciate the efforts of India's unsung heroes. The movement eventually led to a larger awareness of the strain that the Indian education system is under and the dangers this spells for the future growth of our country.
Sadly India loses 500,000 teachers each year to brain drain, retirement and better job prospects, and by 2011 the country will face a shortfall of 2.5 million school teachers in the primary and higher secondary levels. Targeting over 3000 schools, 144,000 teachers and 570,000 students, the Guruvar Awards aimed to accord the noble profession the importance it deserves and leverage the 'Social Sustainability for Education' platform to showcase a critical situation to an audience of people who have an interest and concern for India.
The Guruvar effort was supported and advocated by some of India’s most recognized and celebrated public figures – HE Minister Kapil Sibal, HE Minister Shashi Tharoor, Narayana Murthy, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee and Anil Kumble. The Guruvar campaign’s reach and success is attributed to its proud media associates CNN-IBN, IBN7, NDTV and Hindustan Times, who gave the movement the required momentum and enabled a nation-wide participation with more than 21,000 nominations over a period of 2 months.
The movement culminated into an Award event, which saw 48 teachers across India, nominated by the nation, being rewarded for their role in shaping the country’s future. Prize money in the sum of 2 crore Rupees was distributed among the Guruvar winners by HE Minister Kapil Sibal in a special televised event showcased across the country.
