By Omoruyi Patricia Osayomore
The International Teachers’ Day, is celebrated on the 5th October annually. It is a day to celebrate and appreciate teachers for their contributions towards nation building through commitment to the intellectual and all round growth of pupils in the education ecosystem.
In some regions, stakeholders gather to organise conferences, meetings and seminars in order to appreciate those in the teaching profession, identify problems and challenges faced by teachers so that solutions can be provided.
The 2022 World Teachers’ Day is tagged “The Transformation of Education begins with Teachers” to celebrate the critical roles of teachers in transforming learners’ potentials, the price they willingly pay in ensuring that learners have access to appropriate content needed for self-realisation, liberation, and responsibilities towards others and the environment at all times.
It is against these backgrounds there is the clarion call on countries and continents to provide the enabling work environment and conditions for teachers to strive in attaining due recognition and for them to be given their honour as reflected in this year’s theme.
One can undeniably conclude that a world without teachers cannot be imagined because the beauty and sustenance of any profession rest on teachers as the builders of any profession. Thus, there is no living person who has not undergone tutelage of a teacher all through life.
Hence, celebrating teachers amounts to celebrating oneself, nations and the world at large. In our rapidly progressing world, as the methods of teaching and learning change from time to time, teachers keep upgrading their skills in similar fashion to be optimally proficient in their profession. From the conventional, analogue teaching and learning methods to the era of modern and digital education nationwide, Edo State is rated one of the leading figures in the transformation era including technical and vocational education and training.
When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the conventional routine of pupils and teachers’ face-to-face teaching and learning in Nigeria, teachers in Edo State were still committed to their respective duties from their individual home, using modern technology to educate the pupils. Learning continued with teachers relentlessly imparting knowledge to learners remotely in the State.
The COVID-19 Learning at Home programme which eventually became EdoBEST @ Home Lessons is still retained in the State Education ecosystem till this day where during holidays pupils are granted access to learn by using modern technological gadgets from the comfort of their homes.
The 2022 theme for the Teachers’ Day celebration is not out of place, but a token of gratitude in appreciating the importance of teachers to humanity. Teachers have shown doggedness and resilience in the face of critical challenges like the pandemic and other life threatening situations globally.
