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The 2nd Edition of the Presidential National Best Teacher Awards is scheduled to be held on Tuesday 18 October 2022 at the International Conference Centre, Bintumani Hotel.
The Teaching Service Commission (TSC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) will be holding the Awards.
Consistent with the vision for teachers in the New Direction, the objectives of the National Best Teacher Award initiative are: to recognize the value of teachers in the overall human and economic development of Sierra Leone and to promote excellence among teachers by rewarding the most innovative, creative and dedicated teachers, at district and national levels.
In 2018, the SLPP Presidential Candidate for 2018 Brigadier (Rtd.) Julius Maada Bio, subsequently President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, issued the People’s Manifesto, in which he promised to ‘introduce THE BEST TEACHER award for the most innovative, ingenious and dedicated teachers at national and district levels (Part 3. Section III, page 37).
The initiative was conceived against the backdrop of a decade of apathy in the teaching profession. Recruitment, reassessment, and promotion of teachers were stalled to the extent that teachers saw no future for further development and growth in their careers.
According to the Secretary of TSC Mr. Sorie Ibrahim Turay, the recommended procedures for the selection of the Best Teacher were based on the principles of inclusiveness and integration within an existing governmental system, entrenched mechanisms, and structures.
“The eligibility criteria for teachers to be selected are; full-time trained and qualified primary and secondary school teachers in government and government-assisted schools in Sierra Leone, consistent demonstration of high performance and dedication as teachers over at least uninterrupted 10 years of service, demonstration of a personal philosophy and belief that all students are capable of learning and achieving to their full potential, and evidence of meeting professional standards to be defined in the knowledge, practice and engagement domains,” he said.
“This is expected to be an integrative approach built into the education supervisory and monitoring system in a manner to strengthen the concept and understanding of quality in education and promote professionalism among governments in the discharge of their duties.
A systemic approach is cost-effective, sustainable, reinforces decentralization, collaboration, and a sense of purpose in the pursuit of quality,” he said.
