EDUCATION Is teachers’ reward in heaven?
Adamu Hamidu is a teacher with Kingali Primary School in Ga’ar village of Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State. The father of five has been passionate in the profession for 21 years but still can’t afford a car and struggles to make ends meet.
The state government, however recently devised a creative way of rewarding teachers for raising pupils’ achievements and to show that their efforts are valued and respected.
Hamidu has won the best teacher award in the new teacher reward scheme which earned him the star prize of a Peugeot 406 Prestige car. Hamidu, along with Mrs Ruth Yakubu Leng, a teacher with Ekan Primary School Foron in Barkin Ladi, who won a motorcycle as second best teacher, said their recognition puts to rest the ‘worn out’ adage that a teacher’s reward is in heaven.
But Hamidu and Leng are not the only awardees. In a first of its kind, the government through the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) also rewarded other teachers across the 17 local government areas and staff of the board with certificates and cash prizes.
The ceremony, which was part of the annual SUBEB end of year prayer session, had five categories of the awards; they include best performing education secretary’s award, best performing teacher in each of the LGAs, best teacher in the state, best staff in each of the seven departments of SUBEB headquarters, and non-academic best performing staff at the model schools.
Overjoyed by his recognition, Hamidu urged other teachers to wake up to their responsibilities and work harder. “A teacher’s reward is not supposed to be in heaven, we can earn our reward here. One of my pupils in Angware, Jos East, recently paid my transport fare from Jos to Bauchi. I didn’t know her until she told me that I had taught her,” he said.
While speaking at the award ceremony, the Executive Chairman of SUBEB, Professor Matthew Sule, said though the aim was to motivate teachers and staff who have proved to be hard working and committed to their assigned responsibilities, the financial cost for the programme was borne by companies, commercial banks and unions that work with the board as a form of Corporate Social Responsibility.
Sule said the reward strategy was not the only one adopted by the state government to motivate teachers and enhance optimum work performance, stressing that the prompt payment of salaries and training and retraining of teachers and the upgrade in the quality of school infrastructure have also been motivational to the teachers and education generally.
“What is being done today is essentially to authenticate the position that motivation is required for high level productivity. As a student of psychology, I am aware of the aspect of knowledge that says, extrinsic motivation drives the individual to act fast and effectively. But permit me to say that extrinsic reward is indeed a necessity for attracting high productivity in the work place; in fact it is a reasonable impetus,” he said.
Daily Trust gathered that the selection of the awardees, particularly the best teacher, was made from a pool of 17 teachers submitted by the education secretaries of each LGA before they transparently and fairly arrived at the best teacher. The board had provided the education secretaries with the criteria for selection which included diligence to work, staff productivity, punctuality, loyalty and humility as well as neatness among other qualities, Sule explained.
While describing the initiative as timely, Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong said the award will no doubt inspire and re-invigorate teachers towards contributing to an effective educational system.
Lalong, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Rufus Bature, said despite the dwindling economy and revenue of the state, his administration will remain focused and committed to sustaining the momentum of advancing the frontiers of development especially in the education sector.
For Mrs Ruth Yakubu Leng, the prize will further motivate her to do more and serve as an example to other teachers. “When people say a teacher’s reward is in heaven I will have to say that was before, now we have seen it, felt it and even touched it,” she said.
Hamidu also said the award is only a stepping stone to do more and get national recognition that will spur other teachers to do their best. But first, he said, he will immediately enroll for driving lessons. “I can drive to some extent because I had attended driving lessons with an organisation before but I don’t drive a car so I will have to get more training,” he said.