Hilda Peacock receiving the National Award for Teachers

Seven teachers from West Bengal received the National Award to Teachers, given by the ministry of human resource development in recognition of their work at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, on September 5. They were among 299 from across the country to receive the award.

The list includes Hilda Peacock, the principal of La Martiniere for Girls, Sudeshna Chakraborty, the headmistress of Jadavpur Sammilita Balika Vidyalaya, Subes Kumar Kuiti, the headmaster of Murari Pukur Government-Sponsored HS School, Rita Sen, the headmistress of Barrackpore Girls’ High School, Sunil Chandra Das, the headmaster of Madarat Popular Academy (HS), South 24-Parganas, Niranjan Kumar Bandopadhyay, an assistant teacher of Charghat Milan Mandir Vidyapith, North 24-Parganas and Ajit Kumar Saha, a former teacher of Sainik School, Purulia.

Starting today, Young Metro will carry a series on the teachers.

“It was a humbling experience, not just to receive the award from Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, but also to meet so many teachers. Some of them had travelled from far-flung villages and some were even on wheelchairs,” recalls Hilda Peacock, the principal of La Martiniere for Girls (LMG) for the past 10 years. She had not expected to be selected even when her name was nominated by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations.

“I realised that the amenities I take for granted at my school, like using multimedia technology in class, are a distant dream for many of them. They deal with adversity every day on the job,” she said.

Peacock’s academic journey, that traverses three states, began in 1973 at the little-known GHK School in Mumbai, before she moved on to Bishop Cotton Boys in Bangalore. Here, she worked as a teacher and as a senior counsellor. She joined LMG in 1998 as vice-principal. Though she has been an administrator for several years now, teaching remains closest to her heart.

Peacock, with over three-and-a-half decades in the profession, received a certificate, a medal and a cash prize of Rs 25,000.