Vodacom congratulates recipients of prestigious National Teaching Awards

Last Thursday evening, winners of the annual National Teaching Awards were announced. The awards recognise the selfless service of teachers who have demonstrated excellence in the teaching profession.

"We at Vodacom are honoured to have been invited to support the National Teaching Awards. We would like to congratulate the winners for their dedication and commitment to shaping the future of our country," said Mthobi Tyamzashe, Executive Director for CSI.

Vodacom sponsored the prize money for all eight finalist awards as well as the main award, known as the Kader Asmal award. Professor Asmal, after whom the award is named, was a founding member of the National Teaching Awards.

"We believe that mobile technology can play an enabling role in enhancing access and the quality of teaching", says Tyamzashe

To this end, late last year, Vodacom partnered with the Department of Basic Education, and other ICT industry leaders to create the Vodacom Mobile Education Programme, a national teacher development initiative aimed at improving the quality of instruction in schools, with a special emphasis on Mathematics, Mathematical Literacy and Physical Science.

As part of the programme, the partnership established ICT Resource Centres in all nine provinces.  Each resource centre is equipped with computers, Internet and printers and is linked to a national resource hub, located at Vodacom in Midrand, through cloud computing.  These centres are aimed at providing access to quality teacher training and broad-based learning to over 1800 schools in South Africa.

"We would particularly like to congratulate Nkhange Ellias Nemudzivhade, principal at Thengwe High school in Limpopo, for winning the overall Kader Asmal award. May the winners be motivated to raise the bar even higher the next time around," concludes Tyamzashe.

The annual National Teaching Awards are in their 12^th year of existence and acknowledges the contribution of those schools and teachers who succeed against tremendous odds to offer the best quality education.

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