Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has described teachers as critical in the transformation and development of a country, hence the need to harness the power of cutting-edge technology in their work to better prepare young people for today’s world.

He said this in the commemoration of the World Teachers’ Day held at the Eagle Square, Abuja.

Speaking on the theme of this year, ‘The Transformation of Education Begins with Teachers’, Osinbajo said teachers should embrace innovation because they also have an important responsibility to themselves, “for them to be at the cutting edge of advancements in education and especially, the use of technology and modern teaching methods.”

Emphasising on the significance of the knowledge economy in global development today, Osinbajo said: “Whereas our previous pedagogy inadvertently produced students who were good stores of crammed information, the demands of the future require that we position our young people to think for themselves, to absorb and process the wealth of information available to them, and to tease out useful knowledge.

“Education must respond to the dynamism, speed of development and massive changes in society. Educators must understand the skills required to take full advantage of a world dependent on technology. In addition to listening, education today includes writing, ideation, imagining, and critical thinking skills. It is no longer merely learning by rote.”

While thanking the teachers for their services to the country and its people, Osinbajo who recalled himself was a teacher for 40 years since 1981, urged teachers to continue to “plug themselves into the global knowledge pool.” 

Meanwhile, a Lagos-based teacher with Oke-Odo Senior High School, Alimosho, Lagos State, has emerged the overall best teacher in Nigeria as announced by the Federal Government, yesterday.

She was selected out of thousands of teachers that were shortlisted for national recognition as part of event to mark the 2022 World Teacher’s Day, and was rewarded with a brand new car.

Also rewarded were Ifetike Chekwube Hope from Government Technical College, Onitsha, Anambra State, who emerged the first runner-up, and Adelana Owolabi Paul from Ijebu Muslim College (Junior), Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, who emerged the second runner-up.

On private school category, Ugokwe Marilyn Uchenna from Susu College, Nkpor, Anambra, State, emerged the overall best teacher.