Palakkad: A Catholic priest from Kerala is among the winners of a national award for school principals.

Fr Sanil Jose Kuttipuzhakkaran, principal of St. Raphael’s Cathedral School, is the only recipient of this year’s Innovative Principal Excellence Award from southern India.

The award, comprising a cash award of 100,000 rupees and a citation, is given for making innovative and effective learning teaching practices in the field of education.

Fr Kuttipuzhakkaran, who is popularly known as Fr Sanil, is a priest of the Palghat diocese.

The award, which is jointly set up by Progressive Teacher Society and S Chand Educational Company, will be conferred at a ceremony on August 26 in New Delhi.

The 36-year-old priest, who hails from Thrissur district, is also the parish priest of St. Thomas Church in Koduvayoor in Palakkad (formerly Palghat). He was ordained a priest on December 28, 2009.

In his busy schedule he finds time to attend many academic conferences in both India and abroad and has published articles on innovative ideas in the field of education.

Fr. Sanil says he considers the award as an acknowledgment of the efforts and progress made by his school.