Western Cape Education Department Honours Western Cape's Teachers

The Western Cape Education Department tonight are honouring the forty-four (44) regional and provincial winners of the Western Cape 2010 Teaching Awards at a ceremony in Stellenbosch.

The awards follow a rigorous selection process in all eight (8) education districts of the province and regional finals involving clusters of districts.

The awards form part of the National Teaching Awards programme managed by the Department of Basic Education (DoBE).

The eight (8) Western Cape winners are among forty-four (44) district and regional finalists. About thirty-two thousand (32 000) teachers in the Western Cape were eligible for nomination. The names of the provincial winners will now go forward to the national competition.

The provincial adjudication panel spent many hours identifying the winners according to strict criteria provided by the DoBE.

The twenty-one (21) members of the panel included representatives of all sectors of the education community, including all teacher trade unions, school governing body associations and Western Cape Education Department (WCED) officials.

The awards recognise excellence in eight categories of teaching and education leadership. They also provide an opportunity to showcase and celebrate excellence throughout the education system.

The WCED will present a certificate and a computer netbook to each provincial winner. The department will forward their names to the DoBE for the national awards, for presentation on a date to be announced.