Lagos State Education District II on Thursday rewarded excellence and hard work among its teachers and students as it presented various awards to teachers and a University Scholarship to a student of Eva Adelaja Senior Girls Secondary School, Bariga, who was the Best Student from the District in Y2019/2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), during the 15th Annual Merit Award Ceremony of the District.

The Commissioner for Education, Folasade Adefisayo, in her address at the event, commended the teachers and all awardees for their efforts and hard work, noting that the gift items presented to them cannot be compared to their individual efforts. She said the intention of the State Government is to continually celebrate and motivate the entire workforce towards achieving excellence at all times.

Speaking on the theme of the event, “Enhancing Excellence in the New Normal”, Adefisayo insisted that excellence in this new normal era cannot be achieved without leveraging on available technology that would enhance teaching.

While urging the awardees to explore the competitive advantage of technology in their teaching methodology as captured under the Education and Technology pillar of the T.H.E.M.E.S. Agenda, the Commissioner advised the award recipients to see the teaching profession as a craft where they should always aim to become craft masters.

In his remark, the Chairman, Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Education, Sanni Okanlawon, affirmed that Education District II has over the years been synonymous with excellence, having produced outstanding teachers and students who had won laurels at different levels of academic competitions.

On the awards received by the teachers and students in various categories, the Lawmaker pointed out that “It’s not a child’s play to bring out the best in any child, it takes commitment and painstaking effort by all relevant stakeholders under the leadership of the Tutor-General/Permanent Secretary of the District, Anike Adekanye”.

The TG/PS, Education District II, Anike Adekanye, said “This year’s edition was aimed at recognising and rewarding the remarkable efforts of our staff, students and schools that have consistently achieved excellent values in the discharge of their duties and to acknowledge outstanding achievements in our schools and among our officers in a special way”.

She noted that the Award Ceremony committees had done their due diligence in screening, assessing and analysing each candidate before presenting them for recognition.

The highlight of the event was the awards and honour presented to Anike Adekanye by the African Emerging Leaders in Research and Development in recognition of her moral character, service to humanity, education management, excellent contribution and leadership quality in Lagos State and beyond.

Several awards were presented to outstanding Principals, Teachers, students, non-teaching staff and school administrators at the event, while Mr. Edward Fola Amore of Community School, Bayeku, won the Star Prize of an ES300 Model Lexus Car in the Raffle Draw.