IIMB professor Srivardhini Jha selected for National Teachers’ Award 2025

Bengaluru, Aug 27 (PTI) Professor Srivardhini K Jha, chairperson of the NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL) and faculty in Entrepreneurship at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB), has been selected for the National Awards to Teachers 2025, instituted by the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education.

The award recognises teachers who, through their contributions to teaching, research, innovation, and institution-building, enrich the lives of students and promote high-quality education in the country.

According to an IIMB press release issued on Wednesday, the felicitation ceremony will be held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, on September 5, where President Droupadi Murmu will confer the awards.

“I accept this award with gratitude and humility, mindful that teaching is a journey of continuous learning. This recognition strengthens my resolve to further advance entrepreneurship education—where academic rigor meets the courage to experiment, innovate, and create lasting change,” Jha said in the release.

She is regarded by students across IIMB programmes for her entrepreneurship-focused courses, which are known for pedagogical innovation, experiential design, and engaging delivery, the release added.

Jha has played a significant role in strengthening India’s entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem, the release further said.

Since taking charge as Chairperson of NSRCEL in 2022, she has overseen the incubation and acceleration of ventures across 25 states, with the Centre supporting more than 1,000 ventures annually. She has also deepened NSRCEL’s focus on women entrepreneurs and ventures addressing challenges in climate action and social innovation.

Under her leadership, NSRCEL recently launched iCube (Incubating Incubators Initiative), aimed at building capacity in tier-2 and tier-3 incubators to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem nationwide, the release said.

Jha was also part of the Startup20 core team under India’s G20 Presidency, which institutionalised a voice for start-ups in the G20 platform. She has earlier served on the drafting committee of the National Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy (STIP) 2020 and was a member of the task force shaping Karnataka’s Research, Development, and Innovation policy.

The Ministry of Education’s Department of Higher Education has selected 21 teachers from higher education institutions and polytechnics across the country for the 2025 awards. Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh accounted for the maximum awardees.

The selection process involved a two-step evaluation—screening by a preliminary committee followed by assessment by a national jury. Parameters included teaching-learning effectiveness, research and innovation, outreach, sponsored research, and faculty development, with greater weightage given to learning outcomes and community outreach. PTI JR SSK