The African Union (AU) on Wednesday awarded three African teachers with the first Continental Teacher Prize for their outstanding performances. The award includes a recognition certificate and a cash prize of KSh1,000,000 (10,000 U.S. dollars).
The teachers, namely Augusta Lartey-Young, from Presbyterian Boy’s Secondary School in Ghana; Erick Ademba, Asumbi Girls School in Kenya, and Sister Gladyce Kachope, from Uganda received their awards at a ceremony held at the AU Headquarters in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.
According to the African Union, the three had demonstrated quality teaching; encouraging desirable behaviors; engaging in activities and networks that enhance the social and cultural value of learning; and helping students achieve their long-term career goals, by organizing engagement with relevant agencies and information.
“It is a key instrument in our efforts to enhance the quality of teaching and learning in Africa. As we celebrate committed leading teachers, we provide an opportunity for sharing best practices that are transforming lives of students and their communities, enhancing learning experiences and building formidable intellectual capital and Africentric knowledge products that will enable Africa to harness its resources for shared prosperity,” Beatrice Njenga, Head of AU Education Division said.
Erick Ademba, said the prize promotes the image of teaching on the African continent, while motivates African teachers to be innovative.
“It should promote the image of teaching; the teaching fraternity will be able to be promoted because this can enable other teachers within Africa to view teaching differently,” he said.
“The challenges of insecurity has deteriorated the education system in Africa because the education in Africa has been going down as compared to European countries and others, and this one is what I was trying to come up with, trying to improve the teaching image so that teachers in Africa can feel recognized,” Eric added.
The AU Teacher Prize has been established as a means for demonstrating respect for teachers and the teaching profession, by encouraging and celebrating the committed teachers in Africa. The Prize raises the status of teaching, facilitates the sharing of best practices in teacher excellence, and inspires the best possible candidates to join the teaching profession. Furthermore, the AU Teacher Prize is meant to serve as a catalyst for similar programmes at regional and national levels.
