Nation Builder Award

RC Kalimpong held the Nation Builder Award Ceremony on 10th September at the Rotary Centre. Ten teachers were selected for the Award as per RILM norms. This year the schools selected were from far flung remote areas of the District. Honorary Rtn Manindra Bhujel, ex Principal Primary Teachers Training Institute, helped the Club in identifying the schools for evaluation by the Club for the award. A total of 23 schools were identified for evaluation. The evaluation team lead by Literacy Chair PP Sharada Mukhia, had to stay overnight in local Homestay as returning the same day was not possible. . Four of the Schools were located at the Indo Bhutan border area. Makum Primary school required a whole day's journey, on treacherous roads. Duka Primary School, Lava Primary School and Dalep Primary School are all located in and around the Lava Forest area, which also required intensive traveling. Malli Primary School was very interesting. We discovered that it is a school for children of migrant workers who are constructing the new railway line being built to connect Sikkim with the rest of India. These schools, despite not having adequate infrastructure, were surprisingly performing much better than most schools.
The chief guest for the occasion was Dr. Harka Bahadur Chettri, Chairman District School Board Kalimpong and is also ex MLA of Kalimpong. He being a born orator spoke at length on Literacy. The talk was very informative and interesting.
The awardees were accompanied by their respective Head Teachers. These Head Teachers had all been trained in our Teachers Training Program conducted by our Club in December 2021.
Hon. Rtn Mahindra Bhujel, gave a very interesting talk on " Role of a Teacher ". Our very own veteran PP Rtn Bharat Mani Pradhan gave a well-structured, no hold barred presentation on RILM & T-E-A-C-H that demystifies Rotary and upholds its aphorism of “Doing Good" in the World. Rotaractors from Rockvale College of Management Kalimpong also participated in the program by helping out in its conduct.
The event was well covered by K TV Kalimpong and Himalayan Darpan.