Teachers’ contributions duly recognised at National Awards Ceremony

Feb 12, 2011 News

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The Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Guyana Teachers’ Union and Laparkan Holdings presented its National Teachers’ Awards Ceremony 2010, on Thursday, last, at the National Cultural Centre.
The event is aimed at identifying, publicly commending and rewarding teachers throughout Guyana who displayed exemplary attributes for the period 2009-2010.
One teacher from each region was selected to receive a Regional Award. Those receiving these honours were Charlene Rodrigues from Santa Rosa Secondary (Region One); Anand Bissoon – Aurora Secondary (Region Two); Latchmin Gopal – Leonora Primary (Region Three), Praniva Singh – La Bonne Intention Primary (Region Four); Shemena Charran – Novar Primary (Region Five); La Wanda Fraser – New Amsterdam Secondary (Region Six); Shivone Oretta McCubbin – Hill View Nursery (Region Seven); Ivy Lyte – Annai Nursery (Region Nine); Roslyn Henry – Pine Street Nursery (Region 10) and Carol Barnes – Winfer Gardens Primary (Georgetown).
Honourable mention was made of Clavil Mitchell, who teaches at the Trafalgar Nursery (Region Five).
A National Awardee was selected from among the list of Regional Awardees, which catered for the teacher who “outshone the others” from the “cream of the crop”.
That honour was bestowed upon Roslyn Henry of Pine Street Nursery (Region Ten).
Each awardee was presented with a $50,000 cheque donated by Laparkan Holdings, while Henry received a $500,000 cheque. She was presented with a large floral arrangement, compliments of GTU, and a plaque as a reminder of her achievements.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Laparkan Holdings, Glen Khan, expressed joy and satisfaction in rewarding the praiseworthy teachers across the regions, who dedicated their time, effort and skills towards “shaping the future children of the generation to come”.
“All teachers are special… Of course, some outshine the others,” Khan said, as he referred to the teachers who were selected as awardees.
The CEO explained that the teachers’ awards programme began in 2001 and focused on rewarding those who are committed and dedicated to the development of Guyana, more so, those who surpassed the regular requirements of tutors and “went the extra mile” to boost students’ performances, both in and out of the classroom.
Khan emphasised that businesses and countries can “only prosper in a meaningful way with highly skilled and trained professionals” and that the awardees possessed a fundamental gift, a gift of love to educate children.
He called on the private and public sectors to combine resources – a voluntary commitment to pool resources together, which will result in entities jointly leading a transformation of the nation.
“We live in such a changing world where technology is shaping everything we do in the world. Technology is playing a very important and challenging role for teachers because they have to compete with technological equipment to ensure that children are trained and educated in the right and proper manner”.
President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Colin Bynoe, told the audience that the ceremony was a very timely and well deserved one, because it formally and publicly said that the selected individuals possess the required abilities of excellence. He proffered that “appreciation is a fundamental human need” and that the award ceremony honours the teachers’ creativity and effectiveness among other qualities. “With such rewards and appreciation being offered and displayed for teachers, they will perceive that their work is being valued and as a result, will maintain and continue good on-the-job practices.”
Bynoe explained that such an activity is a good initiative since it distinguishes the positive aspects of teaching perspective which include patience, dedication and commitment.
He said that the National Teachers’ Awards Ceremony, which is an annual event, is aimed at recognising the role teachers place in the lives of students and the way they shape and mould tomorrow’s generation.
The GTU President stated that over the past five years, several new initiatives were developed in the education sector and teaching arena with the best being quality improvement in training, and programmes which were established to empower teachers throughout the nation.
He asserted that “teacher recognition leads to job satisfaction and no system of education can go beyond its teachers”.
Education Minister Shaik Baksh affirmed that his Ministry will continue to ensure recognition is given to teachers, and stressed that there must be a restoration of the status of teachers in society, which has declined over the years.
Baksh told the gathering that the role of educators and teachers is to ensure that the potential of every child is realised, and added that as the education sector progresses, other corporate entities will be invited to join the National Teachers’ Awards programme.
While highlighting initiatives which are existent that cater for teacher development and students’ overall improvement, Baksh admitted that there are many challenges confronting teachers, since the task they undertake is a difficult one.

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