King’s College rewards teachers, urges improved productivity

CONSCIOUS of the fact that motivation is key to achieving greater success, the management of King’s College (KC), Lagos, recently rewarded its members of staff for their role in the growth of the college.

  The ceremony, which also witnessed the send-off ceremony of retired and reposted teachers of the college, also saw the celebration of the promotion of directorate staff of the school.

 In his remarks, principal of the college, Mr. Dele Olapeju, noted that the awardees were part of the team that has contributed immensely to the reformation and transformation agenda of his administration.

 Identifying decline in productivity as one of the major challenges facing the country’s civil service, he urged workers at all levels to be more dedicated and committed so as to enhance productivity in the system.

  He said if teachers in the country were well motivated, their input into teaching and learning process would yield positive outcomes. 

  His words, “Motivation is very important in every workforce, not only that it enhances productivity, it also spur workers to hard work. Two of our teachers received a cash award of N100, 000 each, with other gifts from the Parents Teachers Association (PTA). That is a good motivation, though we are not yet there, but we desire to improve on that. Teachers should be riding the best cars as done in other climes and should be regularly trained on recent trends in education.

  “So there should be additional ways of motivating teachers apart from their remuneration. They could be sent overseas for training and should be provided with good platforms where teaching and learning would thrive.”

   While commending members of staff for their resourcefulness and support, Olapeju said, “No matter how good a leader is, if he doesn’t have good managers around him, he wont succeed. They (teachers) have all as a team contributed to the transformation agenda of my administration.”

  Saying that the school will definitely miss the originality of the reposted and retired teachers, he decried the existence of a huge gap created by the departing experienced teachers whose competence has been tested and proven.

   He said, “There is a generation gap. Teachers with good experience are those leaving the system, those time tested and competent teachers. About 10 to 15 teachers have been posted to this college in the last two years, but we still do not have enough teachers because the transition rate is higher and it will continue to be higher, because there has been no recruitment for a long time.”

  One of the retirees and former vice principal in charge of academics, Mrs. Comfort Uduehi, in her farewell speech described her experience in the school as “worthwhile.”