On weekends and school holidays, a teacher in South Goa skips the classroom and walks into his students' homes. Many of them cannot travel to school. They live with severe mobility issues, so the lessons go to them instead. He guides their parents on life skills, academics and therapy, so the learning does not stop at his door. The teacher is Mahadev Hanamant Shinde. On 5 September 2026, he stood at Vigyan Bhawan to receive the National Teachers Award 2026 from President Droupadi Murmu.Mahadev Hanamant Shinde, the Special Educator From Aquem
Mahadev Hanamant Shinde is a special educator at the Gujarati Samaj Special School in Aquem, South Goa. According to the Times of India, he has spent 22 years at that school. The Ministry of Education credits him with nearly 29 years in special and inclusive education. Hundreds of students have learned life skills, academics and sports under him. During vacations, he also visits the homes of students whose mobility issues keep them out of school. This year, he became the only Goa name among the 48 school teachers honoured nationally. The recognition did not come suddenly. He had already received the Goa State Best Teacher award. “Winning the national award was my long-time dream,” he told The New Indian Express.
Fourteen Books He Gave Away for Free
The award recognises work far beyond one classroom. Shinde has developed 14 activity sourcebooks, teacher handbooks and tablet-based digital learning resources for children with disabilities. Then he did something rare. He transferred all the copyrights to SCERT Goa, voluntarily. “So that many other students can benefit,” he explained. Every year, he also prepares revised activity books based on the syllabus. The Times of India reports that he distributes them free of cost to special educators across Goa and beyond. Because of that gift, his method now travels without him. A teacher in another district can open his book and use the same activities. Few educators hand over their life’s work so completely. Shinde did it without conditions.
Why Play Matters in His Classroom
His teaching philosophy rests on one simple observation. Children with severe disabilities lose focus easily, he told the Times of India. So the teaching must come “through games and play.” Traditional drills fail these children quickly, but a game holds their attention. His lessons are therefore built as activities, exercises and digital tasks. The work does not stop at academics either. According to the Ministry of Education, he introduced hydrotherapy, home-based education and vocational skill programmes. Together, these prepare children for daily life, not just examinations. That blend of therapy and teaching is what sets a special educator apart.
From a Free Training Course to a National Stage
Shinde’s entry into this field was almost accidental. He had joined a company for regular work. At 23, a friend suggested he join one of two training institutes in Maharashtra for special children. The training was free, so he signed up. He chose to train for intellectually disabled children. Later, he worked with children living with cerebral palsy. In 1999, he was sent to Goa to help set up an institute run by Lokvishwas Pratishthan. “I came to Goa thinking I would spend two years here,” he said. Within two years, 95 students had enrolled. Today, he says, nearly 200 are enrolled. Sport became part of his classroom too. At the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Austria, he coached the Indian floor hockey team. The New Indian Express reports that the team returned with four gold medals and one bronze.
The Wise Take
Mahadev Hanamant Shinde spent decades teaching children that other systems often leave out. His materials now belong to everyone through SCERT Goa. His lessons travel into homes where school buses cannot go. None of it began with a policy document. It began with a free training course, a friend’s suggestion and a decision to stay. That is the lesson here. Inclusion is not one grand programme. It is one teacher deciding, again and again, that no child is too difficult to reach. Goa’s children with disabilities got that teacher. The country finally noticed.
Also read our other article on Bhavani Bompelly: The Telangana Teacher Who Turned a Shrinking School Into a Thriving One
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