New Delhi: President Pratibha Patil on Friday gave away here the National Awards for 2007 to 374 teachers to accord them public recognition.

Of these, 82 are women teachers. Nine teachers were nominated under Sanskrit category and five for teaching in madrasas.

These awards, instituted in 1958, give awardees a silver medal, a certificate and Rs.25,000.

This year the highest number of teachers awarded have come from Maharashtra (29), Uttar Pradesh (28), Tamil Nadu (25) and West Bengal (23).

Speaking on the occasion, President Patil said: "There must be constant efforts to upgrade the skills of the teachers. I am informed that in the 11th plan there is an initiative to strengthen teacher education structures and that must be implemented properly."

She pointed out that the government has accepted the recommendation of the National Knowledge Commission to interconnect all knowledge institutions through electronic digital broadband network to encourage sharing of resources and research.

She said the government has planned to set up 6,000 new model high schools with at least one school in each block.

"This will set the pace for improvement of quality school education through various interventions including teacher's improvement and capacity building," she said. IANS