This prestigious award recognises educators who have made significant contributions to promoting diversity and inclusion in the classroom. The winner of the year 2023/24 award Mr Mustapa Jagne, is a teacher at Beseng Senior Secondary School in Region 5.
The Award Committee initially shortlisted 29 out of 68 applicants from which seven teachers were selected within the eight regions of the country.
The judges selected six men and one woman to advance to the grand final stage of selecting the National Teacher of the Year. The aim was to raise the profile of teachers and recognise their significant contributions to the education sector in the country.
Winner of the Gambia Teacher Prize Mr Mustapha Jagne, expressed gratitude to NAMIE Foundation and partners for coming up with such an initiative.
“With deepest sense of love and respect and humanity, I am in a state of more love and joy as of now because all that I know is that teaching is a passion for me and that is why I pursue teaching as a career,” he stressed.
“So the driving force is not about money. What you do today is going to pay dividends tomorrow and I think that is why I am awarded as the prestigious winner.”
Mr. Jagne believed that he was awarded for his dedicated support to his community, as the co-founder of the ‘Young Chakutarian Development Association’, which he said aims to provide essential services to the community. These services include skills training, education, and healthcare facilities focusing on developing young people's potential.
He thanked NAMIE and its partners for recognising the importance of teachers and providing them with such opportunities, while expressing gratitude to MRC-Holland for offering a university scholarship package to them.
The minister of Basic and Secondary Education, Claudia Cole, celebrated the significant achievement of the learning institutes. She awarded laptops to all the seven winners and other learning resources to improve their working conditions.
The MRC-Holland Foundation provided the winners with a scholarship package to any university in The Gambia, at any level.
Alhassan Susso, the founder and chairperson of the NAMIE Foundation, expressed gratitude to their supporters and stated that teaching is the only profession that makes others possible, yet they are underrated.
“Teachers do not only transform the lives of their students, they change family narratives for generations to come. So when I think about what this Gambia Teacher Prize represents and having the chance to interact with the selected individuals along with their incredible stories, it gives me hope for this country,” he noted.
“We often think about what’s wrong and I am among those. Still, today we are focusing on the rights and that is to highlight the stories of incredible Gambian educators so that their stories would serve as an inspiration for the new generation to say I want to be a teacher,” said Mr Susso.
