By Moses Adeniyi
13 Lagos public school teachers who have scaled through tough scrutiny are set to be awarded with cars by the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, having met the test of excellence of the State’s Merit Award.
Nigerian NewsDirect gathered that the 13 teachers to be honoured were among 23 semi finalists selected from over 3,000 applications who applied for the Merit Award selection process captured under the State’s B.O.S Education Transformation Plan 2020.
It was however discovered that while 13 of the 23 semi finalists will be awarded with cars, the remaining 10 will be honoured with other consolation prices.
All 23 semi finalists, it was also gathered, will be empowered with working gadgets, trainings and other human capacity programmes as ambassadors of the State for the teaching profession.
Briefing State House Correspondents on Thursday, the Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo, described the effort as an initiative of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu informed by the need to honour the sacrificial contributions of teachers in grooming characters in the society.
She mentioned that the effort is borne out of the importance of giving teachers a sense of worth and encourage them to commit more to the profession.
Asserting that the sacrificial roles of teachers are not often recognised, she said the programme is designed to appreciate outstanding performance among teachers as moulders of character in the society.
According to her, the selection of the awardees followed very stringent processes of applicants who are public school teachers and screened by seasoned educationists, without interference from the State’s Ministry of Education under which the programme is placed.
Adefisayo who described teaching as the “mother of other professions” but often not commensurately rewarded, said the gap informed the reason for the Merit Award.
According to her the price award ceremony which is slated for Tuesday 30th of March will encourage upcoming generation to take pride of choice in teaching profession for a career.
In her remarks, the Chairman of the Nomination Committee and the Chairman, Association of Private Educators in Nigeria (APEN), Mrs. Lai Koiki, commented that records of experience during the screening processes revealed that contrary to popular sentiment against public school teachers, it was discovered that there were capable and competent professionals in public schools.
She said the experience faulted the popular stereotypical perception of public school teachers from private entities as incompetent.
She mentioned that the over 3,000 applicants were screened through online processes till the stage that led to the selection of the 23 semi finalists who appeared for physical interviews.
According to her, “the best of the best that applied would be awarded with 13 cars”, disclosing that all the 23 semi finalists will be enrolled for a retreat in five star hotels to enjoy all the luxuries while they would be trained to encourage them with the sense of dignity.
She remarked that the effort will go a long in building the confidence of teachers and give a sense of prestige to them.