Winners have been announced in the annual Saroj Lal Awards.
Primary and secondary aged learners along with teaching staff from across Edinburgh were honoured with awards at a ceremony held at the City Chambers last night (Thursday 6 March).
The awards, now in their third year, encouraged schools to nominate pupils’ work in any art form including the written word, technologies and multi-artforms, inspired by the award themes of equality, inclusion and diversity. Head teachers were also encouraged to nominate a staff team from their school whose collaborative work around equalities has adopted a creative approach and had an impact on the school or in the wider community.
Saroj Lal was one of the first Asian women to teach in a Scottish primary school when she began her role at South Morningside Primary School in 1970. Her many successes included being at the forefront of race relations during a period of immense political and social change, delivering anti-racism training and starting the first local authority interpreting and translating service in Edinburgh. Following her death in 2020, Saroj’s many achievements in equality, women’s rights, education, and community work are being formally recognised.
Entries were judged by a panel of esteemed judges including Saroj Lal’s son, Vineet Lal, Ethelinda Lashley-Scott, CEO of the Multi-Cultural Family Base (MCFB), Hardeep Kaur, winner of the 2024 GTC of Scotland Saroj Lal Awards and teacher at Portobello High School, Carol Tuzan, Wider Achievement & Lifelong Learning Manager (CLD youth and children’s work) along with a former Saroj Lal Award staff winner and two student judges, recruited for the first time, via school’s equalities groups and the youth parliament.
The award categories for pupils were as follows:
- Proud to be Me: Communicates the young person’s personal expression of pride in their heritage, in their own culture and/or identity.
- How Prejudice Makes Me Feel: Expresses young people’s feelings about any form of prejudice inflicted on themselves or others.
- Artivism: Art expresses their views on social justice and challenges others to change and/or act differently.
The winners are:
- Proud To Be Me - primary schools’ category: P7’s “The Quilt Group” at Currie Primary School
- Proud To Be Me - secondary schools’ category: Pilrig Park School - A whole school Project
- How Prejudice Makes Me Feel - primary schools’ category: Andrew Amanfo - P5 Ferryhill Primary School
- How Prejudice Makes Me Feel - secondary schools’ category: Jesudarasimi Omaoya (Dara)- S3 Castlebrae Community Campus
- Artivism - primary schools’ category: Duddingston Primary School – A whole school Project
- Artivism - secondary schools’ category: Farah Joma – S4 St Thomas of Aquin’s RC High School
- Staff winner: Laura-Jane Inglis. (Teacher of Modern Studies and Politics in the Faculty of Humanities) James Gillespie’s High School
- Judges Commendation Award 2025 is: Hazel Li S1 Craigmount High School
Councillor Joan Griffiths, Education, Children and Families Convener, hosted the awards and said:
Most of us will be able to recall an inspiring or memorable teacher and Saroj Lal raised the bar in leading the way during her lifetime, and she continues to inspire Edinburgh learners through the legacy she left behind.
Now in their third year, the awards recognise the work schools and pupils are doing to champion equality and promote diversity. It’s fantastic to see that so many schools have submitted entries this year, from art works, poems, films and animation, the entries this year include a real mix of mediums and at such a high standard. I want to congratulate the winners, and acknowledge all those who submitted an entry, for their creativity.
Vineet Lal, said:
The quality of entries this year has been outstanding and I want to thank pupils and staff across Edinburgh schools who have put so much thought and creativity in to their submissions this year. I have been blown away by the different ways that the art works have captured and showcased the themes of equality and diversity.
Saroj was a force for good in her community and beyond, championing social justice and equality for all. She would be extremely proud to see that the awards in her name are now in their third year and that children and young people continue to be inspired by her pioneering work.
Full list of judges:
- Vineet Lal, Saroj Lal’s son
- Ethelinda Lashley-Scott, CEO of the Multi-Cultural Family Base (MCFB)
- Hardeep Kaur, winner of the 2024 GTC of Scotland Saroj Lal Awards and teacher at Portobello High School,
- Carol Tuzan, Wider Achievement & Lifelong Learning Manager (CLD youth and children’s work)
- Elaine Oram, winner of the Saroj Lal Awards staff category last year and teacher at James Gillespies High School
- Yashasvi Soni, student judge and S6 Pupil at Leith Academy
- Scarlet D’Mellow, student judge and pupil at Liberton High School