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18 Feb 2026

Tejal Kothari Wins Prestigious Deepajyoti Award for Exceptional Contribution to Special Education

Tejal Kothari was honoured with an award for Exceptional Contribution to Special Education (ASD and Intellectual Disability) at the Deepajyoti Awards 2026 held in Bengaluru recently. The awards are organised by the Deepika Special Needs School, which is a unit of Sri Sharada Peetam, Sringeri.

Tejal is the daughter of Shamaben and Satishbhai Jhaveri and wife of Amish Kothari.

She has been associated with SPJ Sadhana School in Mumbai since 2000, starting as a volunteer and evolving into a coordinator. Tejal said she is deeply honoured and grateful to be recognized, but emphasised that “my students are my true superpower. They recharge me, teach me resilience, and remind me that nothing is "impossible” and the word itself says, "I’m Possible.”

Describing her selection as a “validation of the collective effort we put into empowering these noble souls”, Tejal extended special thanks to SPJ Sadhana School, the management, her incredible team of teachers for “being the anchors who help me weather every storm” and her family for their “unwavering support and understanding, (that made the) journey possible.”

Prior to this, Tejal has also been recognised for her contributions at the national and international levels.

The Deepajyoti Awards are a highly respected, expert-driven national platform celebrating excellence in the field of Special Education. A distinguished jury of professors, psychologists, and authors selected six top awardees across categories from among 185 applications received from the over 800 schools for children with special needs across India.