Teachers making a difference

Aug 10, 2010

NEW Vision is launching an award for exemplary teachers in Uganda. The Teachers Making a Difference is an award to recognise teachers who are positively impacting the lives of their students and their communities.

By Arthur Baguma

NEW Vision is launching an award for exemplary teachers in Uganda. The Teachers Making a Difference is an award to recognise teachers who are positively impacting the lives of their students and their communities.

Twenty teachers from across the country will be selected in the competition which will run for a minimum of eight weeks. The awards are in three categories with four winners in each category, early/nursery education, primary and secondary school. The winner in each category will walk away with a certificate of recognition and sh1.2m. The first runners up will win sh900,000, second runners up sh500,000 and the third runners up will receive sh250,000.

Catherine Mwesigwa Kizza, the features editor, said the project aims at celebrating the efforts of teachers who go beyond the call of duty and demonstrate professionalism and commitment to their pupils or students.

Jamesa Wagwau, the Mwalimu editor said teachers are the unsung heroes in our society. The project is aims at inspiring teachers to always give their all.

The Award, the third in New Vision’s Ugandans Making a Difference series was designed to stretch beyond the boundaries of the school to the community. It will help the communities appreciate the enormous role a teacher plays and to hold them accountable. It will also inspire the teachers to love their profession beyond mere monetary rewards.

All New Vision readers can nominate a deserving teacher by filling a coupon which will be published in New Vision three times a week.

Nominated teachers will be followed up and interviewed. Those whose stories fit the nominee criteria will be published in the paper or hosted on Vision Group radio stations during the weeks of the project. The profiles of the nominees will be posted on the New Vision website.

Who is eligible for the award?
-The teacher must be a Ugandan resident in Uganda
-A role model who exhibits commitment to the welfare of children

-Must have a record of consistent attendance and punctuality
-Uses limited and ordinary resources to achieve extra-ordinary results

-Can responsibly manage themselves
-Is approachable and has good rapport with students, fellow teachers and the community

-Teachers who go an extra mile by participating in activities outside class e.g debating, music, drama, etc.

-Should not have a history of sexual harassment or any other behaviour deemed unethical

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