Boston pays tribute to and pampers teachers
Educators honoured at college’s annual inspirational event
Boston City Campus & Business College honoured 430 teachers and principals at its 18th Annual Gauteng Teacher’s Forum held at the Cresta Barnyard Theatre last week.
“Every year we invite high school principals and life orientation teachers to attend the forum,” Kerry Damons, head of marketing at Boston explains.
“Our aim is to pay tribute to these dedicated teachers, celebrate their hard work and make a fuss of them so they feel appreciated and motivated. “
According to Ruan Venter, Boston City Campus & Business College’s registrar, the forum serves an important role in helping teachers network and build relationships. They share information regarding career guidance and post-school education and training.
Venter said it was crucial to create awareness of private tertiary institutions that, like Boston, offer learners vast opportunities to study after school.
“Every year there are more students that pass matric,” he said. “The numbers are huge and hence the problem of learners not being able to find place at the various public universities.”
Boston recently assessed about 10 000 student applications for various higher education qualifications, out of which very few students did not get admission.
The aim of the teachers forum is also to be informative, so guest speaker Erna Putter, Boston’s academic quality manager explained the concept of academic quality management. She assured teachers that all learning programmes at Boston are assessed for quality.
“Our learners are our biggest asset,” she said. “We have to ensure that assessments are fair and of high quality. In keeping with the education trend, many of our exams and assessments are done online nowadays.”
Putter urged teachers to visit a Boston branch to personally experience a Boston training session.
Two teachers, from Northview High and Alafang Secondary respectively, took to the stage to report back on the success of their history with Boston.
At times quite emotional about the learners she so deeply cares for, Mrs Brits of Northview High in Balfour, Johannesburg, expressed appreciation for the career guidance and exhibition support from Boston for the past 17 years.
The school received a R20 000 bursary from Boston last year and awarded it to a learner who excelled at school but could otherwise not have afforded to study further.
Mrs Brits explained how little some of her learners have, and how much a simple Boston T-shirt means to them.
Last year, Boston also gave Mrs Makhoba from Alafang Secondary in Katlehong, a bursary to award to a deserving learner at her school. She praised both the learner who had worked so hard and passed matric with good marks, as well as Boston for allowing her to award the bursary.
“Thanks to Boston for giving me wings and a halo so I could be an angel of hope,” she said.
Makhoba, who’s been teaching since 1983, also thanked Boston for the annual pampering at the teacher’s forum.
“It is not just the good food and entertainment, we go out of here feeling enriched,” she said. “This event reminds us of our value as life orientation teachers.
“You pamper us, show us appreciation so that we can go back feeling motivated. We go back happy; our batteries are recharged and we feel inspired.”
Boston handed out fifteen R20 000 bursaries to various schools, giving principals the discretion to award these bursaries to a deserving learner. Furthermore, Boston gave away a bursary for the threeyear Diploma in Media Practices (valued at R90 000) to Diepsloot Combined school and a bursary for the four-year Bachelor of Business Administration (valued at R120 000) to Tlakula Secondary school.
The Boston R50 000 Upgradeyour-School award went to Roodepoort High. The various bursaries, the upgrade-your-school project and numerous other goodie-giveaways (watches, tablets, mobile phone, among others) were given away randomly to teachers and principals via an exciting luckydraw process.
The 2015 Boston Teacher’s Forum concluded with live entertainment and a three-course lunch.
Contact Boston on 011 551-2000, email info@boston.co.za, or visit www.boston.co.za or Facebook.