Chief Education Officer (CEO) Olato Sam is urging teachers across the country to ensure that their lifestyles imitate the qualities of respect, self-awareness/confidence, nationalism and an interminable commitment to personal development.

Speaking on the occasion of World Teachers’ Day, Sam said while these are the qualities children are expected to internalize, it cannot be learned in abstract, but must be lived by those teaching it.

“Our teachers and teaching need to be valorized, enabling educators to be the models of excellence they should be for the nation’s youth,” he said in a statement on Monday.

The CEO is encouraging Guyanese to join the Ministry of Education in recognizing the critical role teachers play in society and to support their efforts in molding the nation’s children.

Sam believes that the celebration of another World Teachers’ Day under the theme “Empowering Teachers, Building Sustainable Societies”, presents an ideal opportunity to collectively address the standing of teachers in Guyana.

“I have consistently posited that our teachers are to be recognized as the agents of nation building that they are. They too, at all levels, must internalize the deep significance they hold in the national developmental agenda,” he said.

The Chief Education Officer also noted that he strongly feels that it is only when teachers are recognized as the foot soldiers in national transformation that their professional standing and social positioning are going to be properly addressed.

“To this end, the Ministry of Education has recognized the key role it must play in creating the enabling environment for teachers to effectively fulfill their mandate. Widespread consultation is now a mandatory element in the crafting of key education policies”.

Departments of Education have begun the transformation from ‘command centres’ to ‘development centres”, with the empowerment of teachers as a major strategic plan.

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