[Watch] Teachers Award 2022: Know Iswar Chandra Nayak Of Puri Who Quit Engineering Job To Take Up Teaching

Puri: President Droupadi Murmu will confer National Teacher Award 2022 on 46 teachers nominated from across the country at a ceremony to be held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on the occasion of Teachers’ Day on September 5. Iswar Chandra Nayak is the only teacher from Odisha who will receive the award from the President.

Iswar, who teaches at Government Upper Primary School at Kanpur under Nimpara block of Puri district at present, took up teaching profession nearly 21 years back after resigning from a lucrative engineer job.

Respected as an ideal teacher among students as well as their guardians, Iswar was a brilliant student in his academic career and obtained engineering degree from Indian Institute of Handloom Technology (IIHT), Varanasi. As a qualified engineer, he worked in reputed private companies across the country.

After working as a professional engineer for 8 years, Iswar resigned from the job to join as an assistant teacher in the primary school under the state government after completing Bachelor of Education degree in 2001 with a meagre monthly salary of Rs 1,500. Though engineering job was highly paying, he gets more satisfaction from teaching and shaping the future of children, says Iswar.

Iswar Chandra Nayak Of Puri To Receive The National Award For Teachers-2022 – YouTube

“I worked for many companies in 1990s but that did not bring me peace and job satisfaction. So I decided to return to my native to teach children and also academically contribute towards promotion of the textile heritage of our state,” said Nayak, who had received the State Teachers Award of the Odisha government in 2016.

Born in Bangurus Patana village under Nimapada block, Iswar had his schooling in Puri. Besides teaching the children, he set up a students’ knowledge centre in his village in 2017 where free computer education and career counselling are being provided to the students.

With a natural talent for writing and attraction towards literature, Iswar is also a well-known writer. He has authored 18 books including many on textile heritage of Odisha and the school education system. His last book, ‘Aliaru A Aa’, published in 2021, deals with the ways to bring marginalised children back to school.

His book ‘Weaves in Textiles’ has been included as a reference book in 10 IIHTs across the country. “For me, education and textiles go hand in hand. Both are equally important,” said Nayak who runs YouTube channels ‘Teachers Odia’ imparting lessons on teachers’ training and ‘Chemistry Ganga’ to clear chemistry fundamentals of students.

An alumnus of the Institution of Engineers, Kolkata, 50-year-old Nayak Iswar is also a State resource person for the School and Mass Education department. He was chosen for the coveted annual award conferred by the Ministry of Education for his academic and non-academic publications. The award carries a certificate of merit, a cash award of Rs 50,000 and a silver medal.