Country’s top teacher happy for recognition, says hard work pays

Karatina Girls Secondary School teacher Lucy Wangari Mugo displays her Teacher the Year 2016 trophy on October 8, 2016. She was also rewarded for winning the first Teacher of the Year Award in the Aberdare region. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Ms Mugo is among the few teachers to be promoted because of her hard work.
  • When she joined the school in 2014, the Kiswahili mean score was 3.0 and was able to raise it to 8.5 in last year’s KCSE.

Embracing the appraisal programme started by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) early this year is among the factors that made Ms Lucy Wangari Mugo emerge winner of Teacher of the Year 2016.

The 44-year-old Kiswahili teacher from Karatina Girls Secondary School in Nyeri County scooped the award during the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association conference held in Mombasa in June.

She was also rewarded for winning the first Teacher of the Year Award in the Aberdare region.

And last week, her employer, the TSC, recognised her efforts. Besides the awards, Ms Mugo is among the few teachers to be promoted because of her hard work.

According to Ms Mugo, the recognition by the employer has been the most exciting experience she has had since she started teaching 20 years ago.

“Many people think that the work we do as teachers goes unnoticed, but I can testify that I am proud of being a teacher. Because of my hard work, my employer has promoted me to the next job group,” Ms Mugo said.

For a teacher to get a promotion, they have to go through a process where TSC advertises positions and those who qualify apply, get shortlisted and are interviewed before they are promoted.

Ms Mugo said in the teachers appraisal, teachers are monitored on their class attendance, class performances, involvement in co-curriculum activities, student-teacher engagement, use of creativity and innovations and teachers discipline.

The factors are some of the things the panelists assessed. She has also integrated ICT as one of her teaching methods.

Because of her determination, Ms Mugo has been working with her students to ensure that their performance continues improving.

When she joined the school in 2014, the Kiswahili mean score was 3.0 and was able to raise it to 8.5 in last year’s KCSE.

This year, her goal is to work with her students and ensure that the class mean score rises to 9.