Those who say teachers rewards are in heaven will have a rethink after reading this good news from Ogun State.
The Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun rewarded the best teachers in the state on World Teachers Day with a house and cash prizes.
At the event which was celebrated at the Oke Mosan Governor’s office in Abeokuta on Monday, Mr Odegbola Ayodele, a teacher at the Junior Secondary School in Abeokuta Grammar school, who also won the position of the overall Best geacher in the state, was rewarded with a two-bedroom bungalow in the state-owned Princes Court, Idi Aba.
Mr Adewale Abayomi, from Odua Comprehensive High School, Imoru, Ijebu Ode, who was the Best Teacher in the Senior Secondary category was given the sum of N2.5m and Mrs. Mary Adeyemi from St. Paul’s School II, Sagamu, who was the best Primary School Teacher went home with a cash gift of N2m from the Governor.
Abiodun explained that state government had formally instituted a yearly Best Teachers Awards in these categories to appreciate outstanding teachers in the state and those who have distinguished themselves in the course of carrying out their duties.
The state executives of the Nigeria Union of be Teachers, Academic Staff Union Secondary Schools and All Nigerian Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools, were present at the event.
Abiodun said to encourage teachers for efficient service delivery, it is imperative to celebrate those who have shown creativity, dedication and hard work in the course of imparting knowledge to the younger ones.
He expressed the optimism that this would spur them to put in more efforts in educating the nation’s future leaders.
He said, “We will continue to celebrate innovation. We will encourage consistency. Our administration will continue to make the welfare of our teachers our priority. Our teacher’s reward will not be in heaven, but here on earth.”
Prince Abiodun used the occasion to call on parents to be more involved in caring for their children instead of shifting the responsibility to teachers as the development process of a child would not be complete without the involvement of their parents.
Abiodun said the commemoration of the World’s Teachers Day is significant because it draws attention to the noble role of the teaching profession in nation-building in line with a standard-setting instrument that addresses the status and situations of teachers around the world.
The Governor said that the process for the recruitment of 1, 655 Graduate teachers to fill some of the vacancies existing in Public Secondary Schools in the State was at an advanced stage just as approval for career elongation of Primary School teachers to Grade Level 15 has been approved.
In his remark, the Chairman, Nigerian Union of Teachers, Comrade Titilope Adebajo, while describing teachers as risk takers and mind moulders, called for the introduction of Education Trust Fund to enable government address many challenges facing the education sector.
State Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, Comrade Akeem Lasisi, on his part, called for the review of the free education policy to enable participation of parents and corporate entities in funding the sector.
In an interview, this year’s best teacher award winner, Ayodele attributed his emergence as the overall best teacher in the state to hardwork.
He called on other teachers to be committed and remain steadfast in the discharge of their duties, “as there is always a pay day ahead for hard workers”.
