AP State Best Teachers Awards 2026: Nominations, Eligibility, Selection Criteria, Schedule, Application

AP State Best Teachers Awards 2026: Nominations, Eligibility, Selection Criteria, Schedule, Application, PROFORMA FOR RECOMMENDING THE TEACHERS/HM FOR STATE AWARDS 2026 State Awards to the Best teachers - Inviting nominations by the interested teachers - Instructions Inviting nominations for State Awards / National Foundation for Teachers’ Welfare (NFTW) Awards to the Teachers for the year 2026 on the eve of Teacher’s Day i.e 5th September, 2026 - Instructions - Issued

School Education - Celebration of Teachers’ Day (GURUPUJOTHSAVAM) on 5^th September 2026 - Selection of Best Teachers for State Awards - Guidelines, Eligibility, Schedule - Instructions - Issued - Regarding Procs.Rc.No3310670/TRNG-CSE/2026, dt:02-07-2026

Ref:

1. G.O.Rt. No.434, Education (Ser. IV) Dept., dt: 23.08.2000.

2. G.O.Rt. No.500, Education (Trg.I) Dept., dt: 02.09.2002

The attention of all the Regional Joint Directors of School Education, District Educational Officers and Additional Project Coordinators, Samagra Shiksha in the State is invited to the references cited above. The Government of Andhra Pradesh has been celebrating Teacher's Day (GURUPUJOTSAVAM) every year on 5th September, the Birth Anniversary of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, former President of India, to honour the Best Teachers/Meritorious Teachers with State Awards. Further, the guidelines, timeline, and procedure for the selection of teachers for the State Awards–2026 are provided below for information and necessary action.

This scheme is applicable to regular teachers working in government schools across all managements, such as Government, Zilla Parishad, Mandal Parishad, Municipal, Aided Schools, APMS, APSWREIS, APTWREIS, ITDA, APREIS, KGBV, and DIETs under the Department of School Education.

The District Educational Officers in the State are informed that, in order to ensure a transparent, merit-based and evidence-driven selection process, applications shall be considered in Offline (District level) and online (Through LEAP App at the State level). The selection will be based on objective data and digital portfolios, thereby eliminating subjectivity and ensuring that all teachers, irrespective of their geographical location, have equitable access to recognition.

Further, they are requested to scrutinise the proposals by the District Selection Committee, duly following the procedural guidelines, timelines, and submit the same with specific recommendations to the Director of School Education, Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati.

Eligibility criteria of Teachers for considering the State Awards:

Main Considerations for Selection of Teachers / Head Masters / Teacher Educators:

Special Work done for raising the Standard of Education.
Inculcating Interest in extracurricular activities among the students.
Educational innovative writings and development of learning materials useful to the students.

Teachers / Head Masters / Teacher Educators who have completed 10 years of minimum Service.
Normally, retired teachers are not eligible for the awards, but those who have served for part of the academic year may be considered if they otherwise fulfil the conditions.
Teachers / Head Masters / Teacher Educators who have been selected for State Awards earlier are not eligible.
Teachers / Head Masters / Teacher Educators who have charges/disciplinary proceedings/criminal cases are not eligible.
The District Selection Committee should form the verification teams to verify the facts/information provided by the applicant.
In addition to the above categories, the Government have decided to felicitate certain outstandingly performing teachers.
Criteria based on performance: Under this, teachers will be awarded marks on criteria based on performance e.g. initiatives to improve learning outcomes, innovative experiments undertaken, organization of extra and co-curricular activities, use of Teaching

The Nominations for the selection of teachers to the State Awards-2026 have been invited for the following criteria.

Self-Nomination.
Recommended by five fellow Teachers.
Performance-based selection of teachers through the LEAP App at the State

Self-Nomination: The applications are invited from all teacher categories working in Government, Zilla Parishad, Mandal Parishad, Municipal, Aided Schools, APMS, APSWREIS, APTWREIS, ITDA, APREIS, KGBV, and DIETs (Lecturers/Senior Lecturers) under the Department of School Education
Recommended by Five Fellow Teachers: Any teacher who is eligible for the State award but has not applied himself/herself, in that case, five Fellow teachers can nominate that teacher (he/she) for the State Award. Keeping in view of his / her performance, achievements, and the evaluation parameters shown for state awards in the proforma (Annexure-III).
Performance-based selection of Teachers through LEAP APP at the state level: Shortlisting the best-performing teachers based on Attendance, results, and Enrollment through LEAP App. The list will be communicated to the Districts for the District Selection Committee to select the shortlisted teachers.

Note: The District Selection Committee should recommend the teacher in any one of the above said three award criteria only.

The Selection Process Timeline - offline:

Receipt of the applications from the teachers (All categories of posts) at O/o Divisional Level	1.07.2026 to 15.07.2026
Scrutiny & Finalisation of Applications at the Divisional Level in the 1:3 ratios across the categories.	17.07.2026 to 21.07.2026
Submission of the final list to the O/o the District Educational Officer.	22.07.2026
Scrutiny & Finalization of Applications at the District Level in 1:1 ratios at the categories	23.07.2026 to 27.07.2026
Submission of the final list at the District level to O/o the Director of School Education	28.07.2026
Scrutiny at the State Level	03.08.2026 to 06.08.2026
Interview at the State Level	10.08.2026 to 12.08.2026
Shortlisted by the State Selection Committee.	14.08.2026
State Function	05.09.2026

Selection process for State Awards: The following committees have been constituted for scrutinising/ shortlisting the applications in both Offline (District level) and Online (through LEAP app at State level) received from the teachers for selecting the best teachers to the State Awards – 2026.

DIVISIONAL SELECTION COMMITTEE:

Deputy Educational Officer	Chairman
Senior Lecturer /Lecturer in DIET	Member
Senior most MEO-I & II in the Concerned Division	Member
Eminent Educationist (Nominated by the DEO)	Member

The recommendations by the Divisional Selection Committee regarding the selected teachers should not be more than 24 (in the following Three types of selection categories (Cadre-wise)) and submit the self-nomination form, Certificate of antecedents & character, approval copy by the District Selection Committee, marks awarded by the Committee along with their recommendations, one JPJ model photo and citations not exceeding (10) lines on each selected teacher to the District Selection Committee i.e., District Educational Officers concerned. Submit the applications in the following category wise from all managements.

SGT	06
School Assistant	12
HM	06
Total Applications @ each District	24

DISTRICT SELECTION COMMITTEE:

District Collector	Chairman
District Educational Officer	Convener
Principal of DIET	Member
Eminent Educationist (Nominated by the District Collector)	Member
Any other District Level Officer (Nominated by the District Collector)	Member
Representative of Good Voluntary (Organization interested in Education)	Member

The recommendations by the District Selection Committee regarding the selected teachers should not be more than 8 (in the following Three types of selection categories (Cadre-wise)) and submit the self-nomination form, Certificate of antecedents & character, approval copy by the District Selection Committee, marks awarded by the Committee along with their recommendations, one JPJ model photo and citations not exceeding (10) lines on each selected teacher to the State Level Committee i.e., Director of School Education, Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati. Submit the applications in the following category wise from all managements.

SGT	02
School Assistant	04
HM	02
Total Applications @ each District	08

The FINAL SELECTION will be made by the following State Selection Committee from among the names recommended by the District Selection Committee.

STATE SELECTION COMMITTEE:

1)	The Hon’ble Minister for Education, AP Secretariat, Amaravati.	Chairman
2)	The Secretary to Government, School Education Dept., Government of AP, Amaravati.	Vice Chairman
3)	The Director of School Education, AP, Amaravati.	Convener
4)	The Director, SCERT, AP, Mangalagiri.	Member
5)	Eminent Educationist, (Nominated by the Government).	Member

The State Level Committee selects the teachers for “State Awards” from the Selection lists submitted by the District Selection Committee, duly limiting the No. of awards category wise.

Celebration of District Level Best Teacher Awards:

The District Level Best Teacher Awards, the selection committee shall recommend not more than 30 teachers in the category of SGT, 20 teachers in the category of SA and 10 teachers in the category of Headmaster for each district as per the above categories.

Further, all the Regional Joint Directors, District Educational Officers, and Additional Project Coordinators of Samagra Shiksha in the state are requested to organise the District level TEACHER’S DAY celebrations at their jurisdictions in a befitting manner as per the existing practice without giving any scope for adverse remarks in the selection of awardees, duly following the local protocol and strict adherence to rules in force.

All the Regional Joint Directors and District Educational Officers in the State are requested to give wide publicity about the programme through newspapers and other local mass media.

Therefore, all the District Educational Officers in the State are hereby instructed to adhere to the above instructions scrupulously and ensure strict compliance with the prescribed guidelines and timelines. They shall process and furnish the applications/proposals to this office within the stipulated time schedule without fail. Any deviation or delay in submission will be viewed seriously.

Encl: