Adeola Adefemi, a teacher in a state public school, has won this year’s African Union Continental Teacher Prize, just two weeks after two Lagos teachers were named among the top 50 contenders for the Global Teacher Prize.
Wodon Quentin, the Director of UNESCO in charge of the International Institute of Capacity Building in Africa, named her as the winner online on Thursday afternoon to honor this year’s World Teachers’ Day celebrations held around the world.
Adefemi is a multi-award-winning English language teacher at Keke Senior High School in Agege, part of the state’s Education District 1.
Last year, she was awarded the Best Teacher Prize in Lagos State, and the state administration, specifically Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, celebrated and honored her with a brand-new SUV.
Later that year, she received the Presidential Best Teacher Prize in Nigeria and another SUV from the Federal Government in recognition of her achievements.
Adefemi, who also got the 2020 Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement Award, received an award plaque, a certificate of honor, and a $10,000 cash prize for earning the award. Only Olalekan Adeeko, an Ogun State teacher, has won the AU Teacher Prize from Nigeria since its inception four years ago, and he did it in 2020.
On a yearly basis, the African Union Commission recognizes a maximum of eight teachers who have been judged to be excellent in service delivery in classrooms as well as in communities among teachers from diverse parts of the continent.
The award is intended to raise the visibility and stature of teachers in Africa at all levels, to promote teaching as a recognized profession, and to recognize and encourage excellent teachers across the continent, according to the AU.
The organization went on to say that the standing of a teacher in Africa is critical to fulfilling the continent’s Agenda 2063 objective of integration, peace, and prosperity.
As a result, the award will not only demonstrate respect for teachers and the teaching profession, but it will also elevate their status and inspire the best potential applicants to enter the teaching profession in Africa.
