Chandigarh University honors 782 schools, teachers, principals and meritorious students from 18 States & UTs for excellence in academics, sports & culture Chandigarh, India (NewsVoir) To honour the invaluable contribution made by private schools in elevating the stature of education, sports and culture in the country, Chandigarh University in collaboration with Federation of Private Schools and Associations of Punjab (FAP) felicitated principals, teachers and students from over 800 schools across India during the 5th edition of the FAP National Awards 2025 held at Chandigarh University campus. Governor of Haryana, Prof Ashim Kumar Ghosh, inaugurated the FAP National Awards 2025 as the Chief Guest. He was accompanied by his wife Mitra Ghosh. Besides Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and Chancellor, Chandigarh University, Satnam Singh Sandhu who presided over the event as Guest of Honour, the other dignitaries who graced the event included Dr G Immanuel, Chairman of Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (ICSE), singer, actor and lyricist Gurnam Bhullar, Chandigarh University Vice-Chancellor, Dr Raviraja N Seetharam, Senior Managing Director Chandigarh University Deepinder Singh Sandhu and President of FAP Dr Jagjit Singh Dhuri. On the opening day of FAP National Awards 2025, 782 schools, teachers, principals and meritorious students from 18 States & UTs were felicitated with the awards. During the inaugural ceremony, 20 awards were given for Lifetime Achievement, Academic Achievement, Pride of India- Academic Achievement and Pride of India- Sports Achievement Awards. In all, Lifetime Achievement Award was given to 50 principals and teachers, Pride of India- Academic Achievement Awards were given to 315 awards students of 105 schools and 41 schools were given awards for achievements in sports. Pride of India- Sports Achievement Awards were also given to 356 students. In the two-day award ceremony, awards will be given to teachers, students and schools from 18 States and Union Territories including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Bihar. These Awards will be given in four categories including The Best School Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, Pride of School Award and The Best Student Award (Pride of India) for their futuristic vision and meritorious achievements in the domains of academic, sports, cultural and social contribution. In his inaugural address, Governor of Haryana, Prof Ashim Kumar Ghosh said, “Private sector plays a pivotal role in elevating the standard of school education in our country. Of about 14.72 lakh schools in India, there are 3.40 lakh private schools which account for 23% of the total schools. I strongly feel that an organization like FAP must come forward in ensuring the children from weaker sections of society have their fair representation in private schools as well which will further promote equity and inclusiveness in education.” “Our progress in education also reflects the visionary leadership of our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji under whom historic reforms have strengthened India's position as a global education hub. The PM Shree scheme has modernized over 4,500 schools providing world class infrastructure and access. The National Education Policy has placed research, innovation, and knowledge at the center of learning. As a result, India's ranking in the Global Innovation Index has improved from 81 in 2014 when Prime Minister Modi ji had come to power to 39 in 2025 which is a remarkable achievement. Patent filings have grown up by 31% and India now ranks 4th globally with 1.3 million academic research publications in the last five years. The government's decision to reduce patent application fee is by 80% for institutions has accelerated this change,” the Governor added. Prof Ashim Kumar Ghosh further said, “Moreover, the education budget has risen from Rs 79,451 Crore in 2014 to a historic figure of Rs Rs 1,28,650 Crore in 2025-26. As we honor today's achievers let us reaffirm our collective commitment to shaping a brighter more innovative and inclusive future for India's children.” Commending the award recipients for their significant contributions in shaping the minds of the youth, Satnam Singh Sandhu, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and Chancellor of Chandigarh University, said, “As an educationist, I can say that whatever change that has come in the society has come because of teachers. Our visionary Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s has given the vision of a Atmanirbhar Bharat and Viksit Bharat by 2047. I am sure the biggest role in realizing this vision will be played by the provided educational institutions and private school teachers because it is not possible for government to do everything or even fulfil the need of quality education which is being fulfilled by the private institutions for making this vision a reality. So today India has emerged from the 11th largest economy in the world to become the fourth largest economy. Even children from the poorest of the poor backgrounds can touch the heights of progress with the power of education. Five years ago, no one had thought that private schools would get the same honor and respect as government schools. Which has been possible through these FAP Awards.” “Children from the poorest of backgrounds can touch the skies of progress with the power of education. Affectionate and devoted teachers play the most important role in giving strength to the flight of children. The new National Education Policy 2020 aims to make India a Global Knowledge Superpower. Our educational institutions and teachers have to contribute actively in school education, higher education and skill education to achieve this goal. I am sure our teachers will establish India as a Global Knowledge Superpower with their crucial contribution,” he added. Dr G Immanuel, Chairman of Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (ICSE) said, “Now around the world now there is a lot of competition happening and every school education board is trying to compete from with other board. The best practices are being transferred easily. Most of the boards are going for STEAM education now. Earlier, STEM education which means Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education was followed. Now, to this we added Art. Art is very important because Art is part of everything. In STEM education, Art is being added to make it more collaborative, more useful for everybody.” Warning against the dangers of digital information, Dr G Immanuel said, “Learning doesn't happen and only within the school premises in the schools, colleges or universities. It happens everywhere anyway with lots of information freely flowing. Now one has to regulate this. Unless we regulate this information to decide which information should be taken in and which information should not be taken in, it may affect and cause a problem. Therefore, as educators we need to reach out to the children and have some regulatory system as unregulated information may cause a lot of havoc for everybody. Now, digital information is causing problems for everybody. There are countries and universities around the world who are going back to physical books and physical way of teaching because e-books, smart boards, they are causing lot of problems.” In his address, President of FAP Dr Jagjit Singh Dhuri said, “Private schools are playing a pivotal role in school education. But despite this, the contribution of private schools in India’s transformation in the education sector was ignored and the teachers at private schools were not given due recognition for the crucial role they are playing in providing quality education with utmost dedication and hard work. So, the purpose of FAP awards is to give due recognition to private schools and their teachers in society with these awards. This initiative not only recognizes the efforts of private schools who have reached the pinnacles but also encourages other schools to compete for achievements in the fields of academics, sports, cultural heritage, infrastructure and facilities.” “We are honoured that FAP has become the only educational federation in the world to award 11001 management members, principals, teaching and non-teaching staff and students from across India with FAP National Awards between 2021 to 2025 for achievements in academic, sports and cultural domains at no financial cots to any recipient. The award for this record was presented to us today by Dr Aravind Lakshminarayanan, CEO of Nobel World Records Private Limited, during inauguration of the 5th edition of the FAP National Awards 2025 which is matter of great joy and satisfaction for us,” he added. About Chandigarh University Chandigarh University is a NAAC A+ Grade University and QS World Ranked University. This autonomous educational institution is approved by UGC and is located near Chandigarh in the state of Punjab. It is the youngest university in India and the only private university in Punjab to be honoured with A+ Grade by NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council). CU offers more than 109 UG and PG programs in the field of engineering, management, pharmacy, law, architecture, journalism, animation, hotel management, commerce, and others. It has been awarded as The University with Best Placements by WCRC. Website address: www.cuchd.in (Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with Newsvoir and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI