Sorsogon educator finalist in global search for best teacher
The Department of Education (DepEd) lauded a public school teacher from Donsol in Sorsogon for becoming one of the top 50 finalists in an international search for the exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding impact and contribution to the profession.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones lauded teacher Ryan Homan for his unwavering commitment and dedication to education which made it possible for him to be among the finalists for the 2018 Global Teacher Prize.
“This is a teacher who considers teaching not just as a profession, but a lifelong mission and a vocation,” Briones said. “He is worth admiring and emulating, whether or not he wins the Global Teacher Prize,” she added.
Homan, 32, is a teacher from San Jose Elementary School in Donsol, Sorsogon.
For the 2018 Global Teacher Prize, Homan is the lone finalist from the Philippines. He is scheduled to fly to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in March – along with the best teachers from 49 other countries – for the announcement of the Global Teacher Prize winner who will receive US$ 1 million as prize.
The Global Teacher Prize is established and organized by the Varkey Foundation, a not-for-profit organization working for the betterment of education standards throughout the world.
Dangal ng Bayan Recently, Homan was conferred with the Dangal ng Bayan (DnB) Award by President Duterte for championing literacy in his community.
He received the DnB Award from the Civil Service Commission (CSC) in 2017 in recognition of “his efforts and self-initiated interventions which led to the significant improvement of the reading competencies of the learners from his locality.”
Homan is known in his community as a champion of literacy who initiated various reading programs to help learners in San Jose Elementary School who are at risk of dropping out.
Aside from his DnB award as one of the outstanding public officials and employees in the country in 2017, Homan was also a national awardee for the youth category of the 2016 Search for Outstanding Volunteers by the National Economic and Development Authority and Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Authority.
‘Balsa-Basa’ Through his “Balsa-Basa” project – along with the home reading corners and community reading centers that Homan helped establish – the school’s academic achievement showed continuous improvement. Homan also tapped his learners’ parents and capacitated them to become nanayteachers – mothers who are capable of teaching and mentoring their own children, especially in developing critical thinking and reading comprehension.
Many sponsors who took notice of Homan’s efforts to alleviate the plight of his townsfolk offered aid and assistance to schoolchildren, including the construction of a hanging bridge which allows them to cross the river when going to school. “I will usher education to them,” he said. “If they can’t go to school, I will bring the school to them,” he added.