The Ministry of Education has announced a list of 44 teachers who have been selected for this year's National Awards to Teachers, on Wednesday. These teachers will be conferred with their awards by the President on September 5, Teachers' Day.

This year's winners are from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha,  West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Sikkim, Mizoram, Tripura, Assam, Jharkhand, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Puducherry. Nine of the awardees this year are women.

"The purpose of National Awards to Teachers is to celebrate the unique contribution of some of the finest teachers in the country and to honor those teachers who through their commitment and industry have not only improved the quality of school education but also enriched the lives of their student," according to the government. The teachers self-nominated themselves from June 1 to July 10 and a jury had selected the awardees on August 10. The award was instituted in 1958.

The selection of the awardees is made by a State level Selection Committee/Central Award Committee presided over by the Director of Education with a nominee of the Union Government as a member. The names of the teachers as recommended by the Committee are forwarded by the State Government and the Government of India makes the final selection on the basis of merit. The award carries a medal, certificate and a cash reward of Rs 50,000