Kenyan teacher Erick Ademba scoops AU continental award

Kenyan teacher Erick Ademba presented with the African Union Continental Teacher Award in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

A High school teacher has been presented with the African Union Continental Teacher Award for outstanding performance, a first of its kind.

Erick Ademba, a mathematics and chemistry teacher at Asumbi Girls High School in Homabay County, was awarded the prize today at a ceremony held in Addis Ababa.

He was also the first runners up of the Teacher of the Year (TOYA) awards in Kenya in 2018.

Member states of the African Union (AU) were required to nominate two outstanding teachers (male and female) and submit their names to the headquarters in Addis Ababa.

The Teachers Service Commission nominated Ademba together with Damaris Mwende of Mbooni Boys who was also the first runners up for ICT Teacher of the Year (ITOYA) 2018 awards.

The two teachers competed against 50 other nominated teachers from the five regions in Africa. The nominees were required to submit a record of their personal teaching philosophy and achievement since joining the teaching profession.

After a rigorous selection process by a panel of experts in Addis Ababa, Ademba emerged as one of the most outstanding teachers in Africa.

TSC Boss Nancy Macharia said the win was a confirmation that Kenya was the home of best teachers.

“Coming just months after Peter Tabichi emerged the best global teacher, we are proud of the high caliber of staff that are attending to our children in Kenya,” she said.

Macharia said the entire commission congratulates Ademba and will do all in its power to ensure his professional development was enhanced.

“We are proud that Mr Ademba is now the first teacher to win the Continental Teacher Prize award,” Macharia said.

The 35-year-old teacher’s chemistry subject has been ranked among the top ten in KCSE nationally in the last two years.