June 29, 2021
By Ilyasa Baa
The Presidential Awards to well deserving teachers across the country which was supposed to have taken place past Saturday was postponed due to the third wave of COVID-19 hitting the country.
According to the Teaching Service Commission, the program was cancelled since they were expecting large number of people to storm the Bintumani Conference Centre for the awards ceremony which was under planning for the past three years.
In its public notice, the Commission encouraged teachers to go for the vaccination.
Sorie Ibrahim Turay, Secretary to the Commission said most of them in the Commission have already taken the two jabs with no course to complain. He said they are not forcing their constituents but encouraging them to turn up for their jabs. He said the Presidential Award was important but the safety of teachers is more important.
There are 85,000 teachers in the country although 35,000 are on the payroll with 40% of the workforce being teachers. Fifteen had qualified and the winners, drawn from different categories were to represent Sierra Leone in the World Teachers’ Award ceremony.
Like the National Comedy Awards, the Teachers’ Awards would have been first of its kind to have ever taken place in the country.