Held on July 31, 2021 the Change Maker awards were presented to 54 school principals in India by Tech Avant-Garde, Knowledge L’avenir in association with Microsoft and Rotary Club.
Amidst a spirit of elation, the principals were acknowledged, celebrated and applauded for their selfless and sincere service to the fruition of the dream of digitalization of formal education. Each principal articulated their school’s transforming digital journey to make ‘Connected Learning Community’ into a palpable reality. They set a shining example and imparted true inspiration to other principals of educational institutions across the length and breadth of the nation, by guiding and handholding teachers and students alike to administer critical knowledge and wisdom, paving the way ahead into a brightly lit exciting future.
Selected principals were from schools that were honored with Carte Blanche Digital School graduation at a special function held in November 2020. These schools have subscribed towards the Digital Transformation and Holistic Learning Program (DTHL); where the school teachers have been trained in Digital Teaching; where the school is conducting online classes daily for all grades; where teachers are MIE (Microsoft Innovator Educator) certified and where teachers have trained the participants in the Knowledge L’avenir Conclave Webinars. The DTHL Coordinators are awarded with Digital Catalyst Certification; Knowledge L’avenir Conclave presenters are awarded with Adroit Mentor Certification; teachers with digital skills are presented with Empowered Educator Certification; students are presented with Connected Learner Certification and parents are presented with Participative Parent Certification. Schools are also eligible to become Microsoft Showcase Schools. And in addition teachers who have given presentations in Knowledge L’avenir Conclaves are trained to become MIE Trainers.
The Change Maker Event included five critically informative Sessions. A large audience across India got a wonderful opportunity to hear a potpourri of words spilling with knowledge, experience and wisdom, describing their digital journey along with the victory over the uncertainties due to the pandemic. They also described their determination to keep Formal Education alive and furthermore, fulfilling the aspiration of every child by imparting better education on a digital platform and protecting the Human Capital of the country. Their narrative was convincing, where they urged other schools to accept digitalization as the new normal of the times.
The list of luminaries who spoke runs as follows:
Precognition Session: Sr. Sadhaya SND, Manager, Notre Dame School Vasai, Maharashtra, Princess Franklyn, Dean of Studies, National School of Journalism, Bangalore, Vineet Kshirsagar, Director Sales, Hitachi Vartara, India and Roshini Kumar, President, Lycee Corp.
Solutionist Session: K V Vincent, Principal, Huddard High School, Kanpur, Priya Anand, Head of School, TCIS, Whitefield, Bangalore and Radhamani Iyer, Principal, Arya Gurukul, Nandivali, Kalyan.
First Transformist Session: Chandrashekhar R, Chairman, Litera Valley Zee School, Bharat Malik, Chairperson, Education Today Foundation, Neelam Malik, Academic Director, Education Today Foundation, M.K. Sherwani, Chairman, The Blossoms School and Waseefullah Khan Sherwani, Chief Administrator, The Blossoms School.
Second Transformist Session: K.Harish, Chairman, Vagdevi Vilas Group of Institutions and Wg. Cdr. Ranjit Kumar Mandal, Principal, BGS School, Chickkaballapura .
Visionary Session: Major Harish Kumar, Secretary, NCERT, Rahul Tandon, Design Head Product Development and Compliances, Bharat Bill Pay and Rtn. Ramesh Kumar RDDRFC, Rotary.
The Change Makers were profusely thanked for being the guiding light and an important catalyst to one and all in the darkest time in our current history. Their spectacular endeavors are taking Digital Education right at the doorstep of schools from the remote Indian villages to the lofty classrooms in global arenas, revolutionizing the system.
The Change Maker Awardees are as follows:
| Sl No | Awardee Name | School Name |
| 1 | Balvinder Kaur Kooner | Arya Gurukul, Ambernath, Kalyan, Maharashtra |
| 2 | Radhamani Iyer | Arya Gurukul, Nandivali, Kalyan, Maharashtra |
| 3 | Chabbi Mandal | BGS World School, Chikkaballapura, Bangalore |
| 4 | Wng. Cdr. Ranjit Kumar Mandal | BGS World School, Chikkaballapura, Bangalore |
| 5 | Judith Singh | Cambridge Public School, HSR Extension, Bangalore |
| 6 | Geetha Mohan | Carmel School, Padmanabhanagar, Bangalore |
| 7 | Sribala Srinivasan | Carmel School, Padmanabhanagar, Bangalore |
| 8 | Nimmy George | Clarence Public School, Bangalore |
| 9 | Farha Asif Daruwala | Crescent High School & Junior College, Pune |
| 10 | Dr. Seema Dutt | D.A.V Public School, Ambala, Cantt |
| 11 | Vijayshree Pandey | Dr. Virendra Swarup Education Centre, Shyam Nagar, Kanpur |
| 12 | Sobha Venkateswar | Embassy Public School, Bangalore |
| 13 | Abida | Florence Public School, Bangalore |
| 14 | Bridgette Mc Gavin | Florence Public School, Bangalore |
| 15 | Aruna Iyer | Greenfield Public School, Bangalore |
| 16 | KV Vincent | Huddard High School |
| 17 | Lakshmi Vindala | International School Shaikpet, Hyderabad |
| 18 | Kavitha B V | Jubilee International Public School, Bangalore |
| 19 | Sujatha Nagaraj N | Lawrence High School, HSR , Bangalore |
| 20 | Umadevi N | Lawrence High School, Koramangala, Bangalore |
| 21 | C Bhuvaneswari | Litera Valley Zee School, Hosur, Tamil Nadu |
| 22 | Sapna Uppal | Little Aryan’s, Pre K,Kalyan, Maharashtra |
| 23 | Neelam Ohri | Mind Tree School, Ambala |
| 24 | Sudha Mathur | Mind Tree School, Ambala |
| 25 | Reetu Thapa | NPS Utrahalli, Bangalore |
| 26 | Fahmidha | Oxford Grammar High School, Hyderabad |
| 27 | Fatima Kim Hussain | Oxford Grammar High School, Hyderabad |
| 28 | Ramanjula G | Oxford Grammar High School, Hyderabad |
| 29 | Asha Srinivas Reddy | Priya darshani School, Moshi, Pune |
| 30 | Arpita Dixit | Priyadarshani School & Jr. College, SSC Board, Pune |
| 31 | Dr. Gaitri Suhas Jadav | Priyadarshini School & Jr. College, CBSE, Indrayaninagar, Pune |
| 32 | Thomas P J | Royal Public School, Electronic City, Bangalore |
| 33 | Kajol Chatterjee | Samsidh International School, Visakhapatnam |
| 34 | Deepthy Madhu | Samsidh MLZS, Electronic City, Bangalore |
| 35 | Rekha Sinha | Samsidh MLZS, Horamavu, Bangalore |
| 36 | Sangeetha Shenoy | Samsidh MLZS, HSR Layout, Bangalore |
| 37 | M D Ganga Devi | Samsidh MLZS, Vellore, Tamilnadu |
| 38 | Mamta Chandra | Samsidh MLZS, Vidyaranyapura, Bangalore |
| 39 | Joice Lobo | Samsidh Mother Teresa International School, Kanakpura, Bangalore |
| 40 | Dr. A Chhalamayi Reddy | Sri Aurobindo International School, Hyderabad |
| 41 | Shobhana Jha | St. Mary’s High School, Kalyan, Maharashtra |
| 42 | Brinda Sam | St. Thomas’ School, Gopiganj, Uttar Pradesh |
| 43 | Santosh Kanavalli | Subbiah Central School, (CBSE) Tirupur, Tamil Nadu |
| 44 | Sindu Hemanth | Sunshine Worldwide School, Goa |
| 45 | Meenu Bhattacharya | TCIS, Sarjapur, Bangalore |
| 46 | Roopa Arun | TCIS, Sarjapur, Bangalore |
| 47 | Priya Anand | TCIS, Whitefield, Bangalore |
| 48 | Saman Sherwani | The Blossoms School, Aligarh |
| 49 | Usha Iyer | The Green School, Bangalore |
| 50 | Nalini Samuel | The Orbis School, Keshav Nagar, Pune |
| 51 | Gunjan Srivastava | The Orbis School, Mundhwa, Pune |
| 52 | Usha Ravi | The Regency Public School, Bangalore |
| 53 | Y Padma Sagar | Vagdevi Vilas School, Marathahalli, Bangalore |
| 54 | Devika Nagaraju | VLS International School, Bangalore |
Also read: 111 Educators graduate as MIE Trainers in a global ceremony