Nigerian Breweries Plc, on Thursday in Lagos, announced the commencement of submission of entries for the 2024 edition of the Teacher-of-the-Year (MToY) award.
The annual award with this year’s edition, 10th in the series, is to identify, just like in previous editions, the best and most exemplary teachers in both public and private secondary schools nationwide for reward and celebration.
Interestingly, the money prize for the overall winner and for the lesser prize winners (first and second runners-up), as well as the state champions, have all increased.
Now, the grand prize winner will receive N10 million in cash instead of N6.5 million, which had been the norm for the past nine years, while the first and second runners-up will go home with N3 million and N2 million, respectively, instead of N1.5 million and N1.25 million in previous prizes.
Also, all the state champions will now receive N1 million each instead of the N500,000 given previously for the position.
Similarly, some corporate organisations, such as Union Bank Plc, FCMB, Capital Bank and so forth, will co-sponsor this year’s edition, with all of them pledging sustainability of the partnership.
The Managing Director of Nigerian Breweries Plc, the organiser and sponsor of the competition, Mr Hans Essaadi, announced the commencement of this year’s edition at a news conference, saying the 10-year-old initiative has yielded a tremendous impact on teachers and the teaching profession as well as Nigeria’s education sector generally.
According to him, Nigerian Breweries came up with the MToY award on the platform of its social arm, Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund and the entries are voluntary and free of charge to participating teachers.
Represented by the Human Resources director, Mrs Grace Omo-Lamai, the managing director explained that aside the money prize, the overall winner would also receive a plaque and certificate and go for all-expenses-paid short-course training in Finland, while his or her school would be entitled to a block of six classrooms or another project of priority for producing him or her
He said all the winners would be unveiled at the grand final and award night in Lagos in October.
Shedding light on the competition, the journey so far, entries and also the criteria for participation, Sade Morgan, who is the Director of Corporate Affairs of NB Plc, declared that even though the competition is free, participating teachers must be certified by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) and must not be older than 55 years.
She noted that a total of 241 teachers, out of whom nine grand prize winners had so far been emerged and rewarded since the inception of the competition nationwide, and that the expectation is to have more participation this year.
She noted that because of the increasing quality of entries received each year, the cut-off marks to win the award had initially jumped from 50 per cent to 60 per cent and, as of the last edition, to 75 per cent.
She said the interested teachers could start sending their entries either physically or online through a dedicated website, www.maltinateacheroftheyear.com, from Thursday until Friday, July 19, as a closing date.
In their separate remarks, the Registrar of TRCN, Prof. Josiah Ajiboye, who was represented by the Lagos Coordinator of the council, Mrs. Adaobi Ekwuno, and the representative of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Mr. Akintoye Hassan, who is the chairman of the Lagos chapter of the union, said the initiative is a really rewarding experience for teachers and the teaching profession in the country.
They both asked other corporate bodies to take the example of Nigeria Breweries Plc and invest appreciably in the nation’s education sector so as to take Nigeria and its people out of poverty.
Ajiboye added that investment in human capital is the best way for any country to attain economic greatness.
Sharing his testimonial at the event, the current champion, Adeola Adefemi, commended Nigerian breweries for the initiative, saying the award has added great value not only to the winners, including herself but to the teaching profession and society as a whole.
She said teaching is not about earning a living but about having a strong passion for humanity and emotional stability to impart knowledge regardless of the challenges.
However, the past winners of the award are Rose Nkemdilim Obi (2015), Imoh Essien (2016), Felix Ariguzo (2017), Olasunkanmi Opeifa (2018), Ezem Collins (2019), Oluwabunmi Anani (2020), Abanika Taiye (2021), Alaku Ayiwulu (2022), and Adeola Adefemi (2023).
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