The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) through the Provincial National Teacher Awards, yesterday paid homage to principals and educators, who have demonstrated excellence, innovation and dedication in their work during the 2013 academic year.
The department celebrated and honoured outstanding employees who have during the course of this year demonstrated remarkable and exceptional commitment in their roles as public servants.
Amongst these outstanding employees were the top Gauteng educators in 11 categories who will compete with their counterparts from other provinces at the National Teacher Awards which will take place early next year.
The department continues to draw strength and inspiration from these remarkable employees whose tireless and relentless commitment in pursuance of the vision of the department has earned them the title of being the best amongst the best. These employees are amongst the shining examples of dedication, who bear the torch of self-sacrifice and who are an inspiration to the rest of the GDE team.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, held in Midrand, Johannesburg, the Gauteng MEC for Education Ms Barbara Creecy said that the Service Excellence Award is a way in which the department celebrates educators and principals, who give selflessly in the classroom day after day, whose work creates the workers, the professionals and the leaders of tomorrow.
“Tonight we celebrate our Gauteng finalists but we know you represent the many thousands who go the extra mile for little recognition and often a great deal of criticism each and every day. Tonight I want to offer you my personal thanks for all you have done and am sure you will continue to deliver quality education in the classroom everyday” said MEC Creecy.
MEC Creecy said the winners of the day are part of the GDE team that has contributed immensely to the many achievements of the department. Amongst these achievements is Gauteng’s matric results which saw the province being the top performing province in the country twice in the last four years and substantially closed the gap between the results of fee paying and no fee schools.
“The results of the national ANA tests and the matric exam show we have substantially improved the performance of Gauteng’s learners over the last four and a half years: we are on the road to successfully establishing reading, writing and arithmetic in our primary schools, improved literacy and numeracy results by an average 13% in just two years.” said MEC Creecy.
The department holds a firm view that through initiatives like the Service Excellence Awards we are able to contribute towards developing healthy, skilled and productive employees and maximise the development of human capital to ensure that the mission and vision of the department are attained.
For more information:
Phumla Sekhonyane
Cell: 071 860 4496
Tel: 011 355 1530
