CHENNAI: The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) on Monday honoured 6 school teachers from across the country with the ‘First Principles Teachers Award 2026’, recognising their role in building strong conceptual foundations among students in physics, chemistry and mathematics.

Winners are Sanjay Kumar (physics, Pune), Asheshanand Acharya (physics, Bengaluru), Kapil Birthare (chemistry, Indore), C Chitti Babu (chemistry, Tirupati), Samudrala Vijaya Kumar (mathematics, Tirupati) and Nishant Sharma (mathematics, Kota).

Teachers were selected for their contribution in fostering curiosity and analytical thinking among pre-university students, an approach that helps them pursue higher education in science and engineering with a deeper conceptual understanding.

The awards were presented by IIT-M director V Kamakoti on the institute’s campus. He said, “School teachers influence a student’s career the most. They promote the right way of thinking and learning at an early stage. This contribution often goes unnoticed, and through this initiative IIT-M seeks to recognise their role. Quality school education is essential to improving the gross enrolment ratio in higher education.”

Prathap Haridoss, dean (academic courses), IIT-M, concurred, and added, “Students who enter IIT with a strong grounding in first principles tend to perform better academically and in their professional careers.”

The selection process for the award began with newly admitted IIT-M UG students nominating teachers who had significantly influenced their learning. An expert panel then evaluated the nominations through interviews before finalising the awardees. Nominations were received from teachers across several cities including Chennai, Bengaluru, New Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram, reflecting the wide reach of inspiring science educators across the country.