Upgrade schools prize giving days to motivate teachers and students

During the second term of the schools’ calendar most districts and counties hold fancy prize giving days.

This is an annual schools’ rite where teachers and pupils who were outstanding in various domains during the previous year are specially recognised in public.

Thus, a district or county’s prize-giving day is such a big event by any standards. These events attract attendance of high-flying individuals in the society.

However, this important school event is becoming boring. It is losing value year in year out. It is no longer as attractive as it should be. It is now a low-key event apart from the predictable entertainment sessions by students. The rest of the programme is just mechanical and dull.

Why has this been the case? Organisers of these events underestimate their value by the demeaning gifts and tokens they award excellent teachers. After the prize-giving day, beneficiaries do not feel motivated; they rather feel mocked by paper certificates which have filled our drawers at home! Organisers have converted these events into avenues for sales and marketing for local companies who come to place banners and posters around the venues of prize giving day at the expense of hardworking teachers.

 How do such papers encourage teachers to work even harder in the future? Do teachers put all the efforts to get certificates of merits that keep piling up in our files? Even the teachers who do not get these certificates do not feel any loss! 

We are living in changing times and education stakeholders must change with time. It is no longer fashionable to acknowledge excellence with certificates. Let them borrow a leaf from the sporting arena. The athletes who excel in sporting activities are handsomely rewarded.

Everybody comes out to pledge their tokens of appreciation yet our teachers are still being given mere papers in the name of acknowledgement. All over the world, companies that value their employees show them genuine appreciation by rewarding them with fascinating tokens.

School prize giving days must stop being formalities and become realities. Certificates do not motivate teachers.

How about giving excellent teachers cars, homes or properties! Won’t such tokens spur competition in schools?

The teacher who tops in a county should be appraised and equally rewarded. Stop humiliating teachers by giving them ‘papers’ after subjecting them to sweltering sun in the name of prize giving day!

Ashford Kimani, Nairobi