Benin City – Following the announcement made by Dr. Joan Osa Oviawe, Hon. Commissioner of Education Edo State during the recent World Teachers Day Celebration by the Ministry of Education Edo State that June 15 every year has been gazzetted as the Teachers Appreciation Day while another day had also been approved as Teachers Professional Development Day, teachers in Edo State have continued to jubilate.
The two occasions, Teachers Professional Development Day and Teachers Appreciation Day will be dedicated to the professional development and recognition of the invaluable role and contribution of teachers to the future of children and to the progress so far made by the state government in the education sector, the Honourable Commissioner stated.
Meanwhile, teachers in Edo State have taken to various social media handles to express their joy for the assurances and plans being made by the State Government to improve their professional milieus and to honour them.
A retired teacher, Mrs Alice Asabor, stated that when she heard the announcement, she leapt in the air in gratitude for the state government’s initiatives in the education sector and hope for the improved wellbeing of her colleagues still in service.
Mrs Asabor noted that the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration has taken giant strides which have greatly improved the professional prospects and personal expectations of teachers in the state and sued for its sustenance.
Also commending the government, Mrs Iluebbey Constance, Principal, Imaguero College, stated that the Teachers Professional Development Day and Teachers Appreciation Day will broaden the horizon of teachers, help increase their proficiency and motivate them into more hardwork.
“There is nothing as good as working and enjoying what you do, and seeing the monumental impact of helping to inculcate knowledge in others. For the teachers professional development, I understand the government telling us we cannot give what we don’t have and therefore creating the opportunities for us to have the stuff that we can proudly give to our children. The government has done so much through intensive training and retraining of teachers. The testimonies were loud, you heard teachers during the World Teachers Day event. Under this dispensation, teachers from Edo state have been trained and certificated outside the shores of Nigeria. For the Appreciation Day, I understand it to mean reward for hardwork. Every little appreciation given by anyone will count and would spur a teacher to put in more effort. Without meaning to express an air of entitlement, I consider this initiative very timely, and posterity will remember this government for good.”
Mrs Iluebbey also stated that there is tremendous progress in terms of remuneration and promotion of teachers, in-service trainings and that the Scripted Lessons is one of the innovations in teaching in the Edo State Educational Reform package that is helping to harmonize academic activities and making the Edo educational ecosystem truly digital, fun and easier for teachers in the State.
Also in their commendations, some teachers from the public school sector, including Mrs G-Obinyan Faith Imuentinyan and Okhide Eugene, both teachers in the senior secondary school arm of Imaguero College, stated that they were pleased with government’s genuine intentions and plans to improve the wellbeing of teachers in the state and in giving them vistas of opportunities for professional growth and development.
Mrs Obinyan stated that being a part of the new innovation in teaching referred to as “Scripted Lessons,” she already felt equipped to handle the rigours of academic exercises compared to the past. She stated it was the first time since her 20 years in service to witness teachers being equipped with carefully scripted lessons in their phones before resuming classes.
“The innovation is laudable, an easy-to-go way of teaching, and teachers are acclimatized with teaching modules already stored in their phones and laptops. By so doing, no one can get it wrong.”
On his part, Mr Okhide Eugene, also one of the teachers involved in the Scripted Lessons exercise, stated that the innovation made work easier for teachers, noting that a standard has been set and teachers are expected to improve on the existing standard rather than going below it.
Both teachers expressed appreciations to the state government and the Honourable Commissioner for the Teachers Professional Development and Appreciation Days and described both days as avenue for teachers to improve themselves, for upward development through training and re-training and to feel appreciated for services rendered.
