Uganda's best teachers to be announced next week

A team of eminent personalities assembled Monday at Vision Group headquarters, and gave their verdict of the winners for this year's best teachers.

The full list of 12 winners and the six who will be travelling to Ireland, will be released in a week's time.

The 12 most innovative teachers will share a cash prize of sh18m and the six most outstanding will go for a week-long, all-expenses-paid study tour to Ireland, courtesy of New Vision, the Irish Embassy in Uganda, Trocaire and Simba Travelcare, one of Uganda's leading tour and travel management companies. Each of the winners will take home sh1.5m home; and six of these will go on a trip to Ireland.

The partners of the project have also agreed that the winners of last year's competition, who did not travel, will travel with the new team of winners of this year.

Their trip to Ireland was put on hold, due to the COVID-19 deadly pandemic which was sweeping through the entire world. Air transport has been grounded in many countries and some countries had also barred traveling in and out of their boundaries.

The jury included the education ministry's new Director of Higher Education Dr Jane Egau and former Director of Basic and Secondary Education Dr Yusuf Nsubuga. Others included the Director and founder of Victorious Education Services Dr Barbara Ofwono.

The other two jury members were the head teacher Mugwanya Preparatory School and former winner of the same award in 2018 Bro. Godfrey Lutaaya, and the head teacher of PMM Girls in Jinja, Immaculate Epenu.

As part of the selection guidelines, the jury members are selected by Partners. None of the jury members gets to know the rest of the four team members, till the Adjudication (selection of winners) Day. Each of the jury scores the teachers using New Vision's published stories, and later personally shows up for the awards ceremony. It is at this point that the jury members, get to know the identities of their colleagues.

The scores from the five jury members are combined and later ranked from the best to the least performing teacher. It is based on this process, that the winners are selected.

The Teachers Making a Difference project is part of the Vision Group's Ugandans Making a Difference initiative launched in 2005.

The project is funded by the Irish Embassy in Uganda, New Vision, Simba Travelcare, and Trocaire.

Teachers Making a Difference recognises the most creative and innovative teachers working in difficult environments. They mobilise their communities to send and keep their children in school, are creative in using limited resources to deliver quality education, pay attention to co-curricular and vocational studies activities, and also support the neighbouring communities.

The project focuses on all professional teachers innovatively delivering the school curriculum; from pre-primary to advanced level of education, including technical and vocational training institutions.

A total of 60 teachers were profiled in the New Vision this year, and of these, the winners will be named. Of the winners, six will win an all-expenses-paid trip to Ireland.