Ms. Arti Qanungo, an English Teacher in the Government Girls Senior Secondary School, New Delhi, is among the top 50 finalists of the Global Teacher Prize.
Among the 1 lakh participants from 179 countries, Arti Qanungo was shortlisted. For 17 years, she has been practicing teaching at the Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Shakarpur.
Born and brought up in Delhi, Qanungo completed her schooling at Lilavati Vidya Mandir Shakti Nagar. She did her teacher’s training from the District Institute of Education and Training(DIET).
She used to teach at a civic body before moving to Delhi in 2010. She has three children, she is quite famous for her innovative ways of teaching. She was awarded a state award for best teacher, she also received an award from a university in London.
” English is a subject in which students in our government schools don’t feel very comfortable. I diagnosed the problem and developed a strategy. Rather than making it a subject confined to reading and writing. I worked on developing listening skills of the children. I would ask them to hear the announcements at railway stations, metro, radio, and call centers. The strategy worked and students became very confident,” Qanungo said.
She teaches grades six to ten and put in a lot of efforts to make English learning easy for students. She always strived to connect with her students at every step of the way. She also imparted education on the health issues of menstrual hygiene and tried to provide a safe space for the girls to share thoughts. She also scripted plays related to the health issues of women.
She received appreciation from the reputed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saying “Congratulations Arti Qanungo for being selected among top finalists of Global Teacher Prize from 179 countries. You have taken the education system of Delhi to the Global Platform”.
She also received encouragement from The Education Minister of Delhi Government Manish Sisodia saying ” Congratulations and best wishes to Arti Qanungo, Pride English Teacher in Delhi Government School for being shortlisted for Global Teachers Prize. She is among the top 50 from 10000 applicants of 179 countries. Delhi Govt. teachers are now globally recognized as being the best”.
She also mentioned her daughter who helped her apply for the global award given by Varky Foundation since she was not aware of it.
” My daughter got an Economic Times cutout and asked me to apply for it. I thought when my daughter was so confident, I should apply,” Qanungo said.
Once asked what are her plans if she wins the prize, she asserted her plans to start a student exchange program and create sustainable women entrepreneur groups.