MINISTER of Education, Mr. Shaik Baksh, has announced that the country’s outstanding teachers will be honoured as part of the programme to observe Education Month 2010. Speaking in the National Cultural Centre (NCC), at the annual Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) graduation ceremony, he disclosed that the National Teachers Awards system has been reformed in recognition of the significant contribution of awardees to national development.
Baksh said the initiative aims to encourage the development of quality education delivery and identify and reward those teachers who, through their dedication and commitment to the job, have made exceptional contribution to the process.
The new Ministry of Education guidelines said nominees for the awards must be formally trained with at least five years of service at the beginning of the academic year.
They are also required to have at least 90 per cent attendance and punctuality for the current year and 75 per cent pass rate in their class/subject at the school’s annual examinations.
Other forms of documented evidence of students’ performance at nursery and special schools will be accepted and, in addition, they must have, at minimum, conducted three class level/subject level meetings with parents of the children they teach in the given school year.
Apart from those requirements for eligibility, the prospective awardees will be assessed in a number of areas, including timely submission of records, pursuit of improved learning facilities and opportunities, innovative teaching methods, professional development assistance given to their colleagues, both intra-murally and extra-murally, participation in community activities, integrity, dignity of bearing, being a role model worthy of emulation, establishment of good rapport with students and willingness to work beyond the call of duty.
All nursery, primary, secondary, practical instructional centres and special schools with full-time staff under the purview of the Education Ministry may nominate one staffer to compete for the Teacher-Of-The-Year Award.
The nominee must be selected by a majority vote of a panel of five adjudicators drawn from the school’s Parent Teachers Association (PTA) or a similar body.
Each participating school will have a competitor to represent its region at the national competition and the Regional Education Departments are tasked with examining the records of the participating schools, conducting interviews with school administrators, teachers, parents and students, as part of the procedure for selecting the outstanding teachers at the nursery, primary and secondary levels.
The teachers nominated in the three categories will represent their respective regions at the national competition.
One winner from the 11 regional nominees will be awarded the Ministry of Education National Teacher-Of-The-Year Award and that awardee will be chosen from a panel made up of the Chief Education Officer, a representative of Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), the Teaching Service Commission (TSC), the event sponsor (Laparkan) and a distinguished former educator identified by the Ministry of Education.
At the school level, all nominees will receive a certificate of commendation from the Department of Education and the Ministry of Education will provide certificates and plaques to the winners in the 11 education districts while the Teacher-Of-The-Year, in addition to a certificate of commendation and a plaque, will win a suitable monetary ward.