Sindhu Prabhu Desai Nayak, Headmistress of Government High School, Malkarnem Quepem has been declared “National Award for Teachers 2020” for her remarkable contribution in the field of education. She is the youngest recipient of this prestigious President’s Award from Goa.
The award was conferred to her by President of India, Ramnath Kovind in the virtual award ceremony on Saturday, on the occasion of Teacher’s Day. The physical ceremony will be held at New Delhi after the COVID“19 pandemic situations improve in the country.
According to a press release, Prabhu Dessai has done her Masters in Chemistry with Bachelors in Education. She is a Gold Medalist in Chemistry from Goa University and has around 14 years of experience in the field of Education. She has taught in some of the renowned colleges - St Xavier’s College, Dhempe College and Government College Quepem. She has worked as senior subject matter expert in chemistry and an English reviewer in Pearson Education Limited, a multinational Educational Software Company in Bangalore.
She topped Goa Public Service Commission Examination conducted by Government of Goa and was appointed as lecturer in Chemistry in Government Higher Secondary Sanguem. Out of six years in the higher secondary, she was felicitated for three academic years for obtaining 100% result in chemistry. She has done extensive research in the field of Education. She was promoted as the headmistress of Government High School Malkarnem in 2016.
She has improved the infrastructure of the school, set up a digital library, herbal garden, kitchen garden and customised compost unit in the school. Graffitti has been introduced in the school to create “learning walls”, special emphasis is given on menstrual hygiene, personal hygiene and sanitation of the students. The school has also proposed and has been practising the New Educational Model during Lockdown.
In less than five years as the headmistress of the school, Prabhu Dessai has won two National Awards for the school. Her journey as a school leader was highlighted on the official facebook page of former CM Manohar Parrikar.
National awardee Headmistress, Prabhu Desai is also the recipient of National Award conferred by “Shikshak Vikas Parishad”. She has also been awarded by the JCI for the remarkable contribution in Education on Women’s Day 2020.
The case study of the Headmistress as an educational leader was selected to be presented at the first National Conference on Leadership Pathways for School Improvement, held in New Delhi in January 2019. She represented the state of Goa and Government HS Malkanem and the school has been declared as the “Centre of School Excellence”. Her research paper on “Role of leader in transforming the school” was selected to be presented for the National Conference organised by NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training), New Delhi in 2020.
Prabhu Dessai has expressed, “I am elated to receive the National Award. It is an overwhelming experience for me. I am glad that my dedicated efforts as a team leader have won nationwide acclaim.”
