The popular aphorism that the reward of a Teacher is in Heaven does not apply to the case of Mr Ogwu Lawrence Patrick, a two time recipient of the prestigious Maltina Award for Teachers.
In this Interview with Eunice Emmanuel-Bagi, the award winner speaks extensively on the aim of the award, the criteria for selection and why he has emerged State Champion for two years consecutively. Excerpts:
Background
My name is Ogwu Lawrence Patrick a Graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, first and second degree, my first degree was in General Agriculture and Masters Degree in Agricultural Economics.
I am passionate about teaching and I have been on the Job for the past 20 years and I do it with all joy because I believe in building people and not structures, because when you build people you build a great nation.
I am married with four children; my wife is also a teacher with the Government Day Secondary School in Adankolo.
Aim of the Maltina Award for Teachers
The award was organized by the Nigerian Breweries; the aim of the competition is to promote excellence in the teaching profession, to recognize Teachers, to encourage them, to motivate them to give their best and impact positively, they want to restore the lost glory of Teachers.
Back in those days Teachers were the most respected in every community but this is gone, this has to be restored. If this nation is to advance, then we must develop the Teachers because no nation develops beyond the level of her Teachers.
On how he got to know about the Maltina award for Teachers and method of application
The Maltina Teacher of the year competition started last year. Last year was the maiden edition and the Vice-Principal Admin of my school, Mrs Owotunse brought the forms.
Usually Maltina has a representative who is in charge of circulating the forms. The forms are taken to the Ministry of Education and from the Ministry of Education they are then distributed to the schools. The Vice-Principal Admin brought the forms and even put up a poster that explained the requirements and prices that were going to be won in the staff room. She also came with a copy of the questionnaire, usually the application is in form of a questionnaire that you fill, and this questionnaire basically seeks to know all that you do in regard to education.
After receiving the questionnaire, I read through it and I filled in appropriately, scanned all my documents, including my academic qualifications at the Teachers Registration Council, Passports among others and sent to their email address; this was the process.
After several months, I received a call that some staff from Maltina for Teachers program was coming to evaluate me. So they came, watched me teach in class, evaluated my performance and graded me and then the Principal endorsed it. The first step is getting the questionnaire and then filling it.
On winning Maltina Teacher of the Year in 2016 and Kogi State Champion, Maltina Teacher of the Year Award in 2015
Last year I emerged as Kogi State Champion, that was the level I stopped last year but this year I did not just emerge as champion for Kogi State but I emerged as one of the top ten. To reach this feat, we were invited to Lagos to face a panel of judges made up of Professors of Education headed by Professor Pat Utomi.
It was not an easy challenge.
Ten of us from across the nation were interviewed and at the grand finale, I emerged as the second runner up, that is the third best in the country.
Last year the Competition was open to those in public schools but because of how excellently we performed last year,the competition this year was for both Public and Private schools.
On what qualified him for the award as Maltina’s Best Teacher in Kogi State
The organizers of the competition have their own criteria for the competition; the questionnaire ran up to 13 pages which you need to fill. It is only when you meet up to their requirements that you qualify.
I also strongly believe that God favoured me and the award was also a product of my hard work and passion for education. Even when nobody notices what I do, I have always held on to the belief that whatever my hand fined to do, I should do well for my work will find me out. I believe that my honest work has found me out, crowned with the favour of God. Assuming I was the only one who applied from Kogi, if I didn’t meet up with the minimum requirement that is the bench mark for the points one has to score before emerging from the state, even if I was the only one who applied from Kogi State and I did not meet up with the minimum cut off mark, then I wouldn’t have emerged as champion.
Last year, 19 states were able to produce champions. Last year the competition was primarily for public schools, but when they saw the productivity of teachers in public schools they realised that teachers in the public schools could match with those in the private sector.
So this year the competition was for both teachers in public and private schools and I tell you, teachers in public schools performed excellently. This year 23 states where able to produce champions and 13 states and the Federal Capital Territory could not produce champions.
Benefits derivable from the award
I am happy and appreciative to God that out of all the states in the federation, Kogi was able to produce a champion for two years consecutively; so it has brought glory to Kogi State because there are other states known for Education and they weren’t able to produce champions.
There were also some financial benefits that accrued to the awardees. As the second runner up, the benefit is N750, 000 and as a state champion it is N500, 000.
But the benefits go beyond the monetary value, my biggest joy is that Kogi is able to produce a champion at the maiden edition and at this year’s edition; I would want that to continue. It shows that we have quality teachers in the state.
Advice to Teachers in the state
Right from last year when I emerged state champion, at every forum, I try to encourage Teachers and even my colleagues of the need to come out of their comfort zones. If we are waiting for the government then we won’t reach anywhere. I want to believe that the present administration is passionate about qualitative education, so Teachers need to develop themselves; they need to be digitally inclined.
As a Teacher, you need to be regularly updated about the new trends and discoveries in your discipline, because the students you are teaching also have access to ICT tools and devices and they are getting informed, so you cannot afford to give erroneous information to your students; because the information you know has become obsolete. I believe that my impact as a Teacher transcends beyond not just centuries or decades but to infinity.
As teachers, if we do not develop ourselves and are waiting for the government then we would be left behind. We do not need to be analogue teachers, we need to be digital teachers who are regularly updating their knowledge.
Quoting Afolabi Olufemi Olayinka in his play ‘’Plight of a seer’’ he said this and I love it and it has become my guiding principle as a Teacher; “A Teacher’s influence transcends decades, we should love them, reward them, don’t ever forget them’’, that is my message to the government.
