BY FOLASHADE SHIYANBOLA
THE Lagos State Ministry of Education has flagged off the Year 2020 Teachers’ Merit Award for outstanding teachers.
The Commissioner for Education, Folasade Adefisayo, said the award was meant to celebrate outstanding teachers for their contributions to the society and work towards the broader perspective of adding value to the education sector.
Adefisayo stressed that there was a need to celebrate teachers because of their uniqueness in the society.
She said, “There is no one that has not been taught by a teacher, no matter where you rise to. They are proud of their products because they are greater than they are. Everybody was taught by a teacher at one point or the other and so we should celebrate them; we should not take them for granted.
“That is why in the Ministry of Education, we are determined to make teaching a great profession and we are doing everything possible to uphold the standard of the teaching profession and not just leave it for somebody that cannot find a job.”
“If you teach children, you will respect teachers. It is not easy to do that, we must respect teachers at all levels. It takes a lot of skills, passion and love for the profession. We are very happy we are going to reward them,” she added.
The Commissioner disclosed that the committee for the award was led by Mrs Lai Koiki, the Chief Executive Officer of Greensprings.
Other members are Mrs Funke Olufunke Fowler-Amba, Administrator, Vivian Fowler; Yinka Ogunde, CEO Edumark Consult; Oyin Egbeyemi, Director, Foreshore Schools; Abi Obasanya, Director Arch-lights Foundation; Mrs Sherifat Ogboye, Director of Education (retd); and an ECOBANK representative, simply identified as Mr. Adetutu.
She said they were all from the private sector to make the selection transparent.
The Commissioner added, “We want it to be transparent, that was why we involved the private sector. That was why we took a retired person who was highly recommended and we could trust.
“They are not part of the public school system and all the reason they should look at us and judge us. More of the reason why we do this is because the private sector understands some of our issues; conditions are tougher here and we want something different, something to reflect the best of standards.”
The Chairman of the Committee and Chief Executive Officer of Greensprings Schools, Lagos, Lai Koiki, said education was the bedrock of development of any society and it was in recognition of this that these awards found a place in the prime educational transformation agenda of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration.
“These awards bear in mind the universal call to action through the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the THEMES agenda developed by the Lagos State Government,” she said.
On selection, Koiki said leveraging technology, the selection process would exhibit innovation, fairness and excellent standards, end-to-end, based on evidence of outstanding leadership or contribution in improving teaching and learning.
She stated, “Evidence of positive holistic impact on students learning beyond classroom protocol, intellectually, academically and most especially psychologically, evidence of community impact and involvement through their work, evidence of innovation and evidence of efficiency and effectiveness.
“The application will be online: http//lagosstateteachersawards.ng. Applicants must be teachers or administrators in the Lagos State Public school system. Entries must be received by 25th of January and applicants must possess a TRCN number.”
The categories to be awarded will include three teachers in primary school, three teachers in Junior Secondary School, three teachers in Senior Secondary School/Technical College, one Head Teacher in Primary, one Principal in Junior Secondary, one Principal in Senior Secondary and one principal in Technical College.
