Mombasa Kenya:AFTER hours of waiting with bated breath, boundless jubilation and
ululation filled the air in the hall when the name “Rosemary Wanaswa”
was called out. And as she walked to the podium to receive her prize,
Wanaswa was mobbed by a horde of equally jovial colleagues and friends.
As she lifted a giant blue trophy up, her face twitched with joy amidst
resounding cheers. Wanaswa was named the Principal of the Year in the
just concluded Kenya Secondary School Heads Association’s 38th Annual
National Conference and Exhibition, at Wild Waters Centre in Mombasa.
The principal of St Brigid Girls Kiminini emerged a cut above seven
other principals who were competing for the prestigious award scheme.
The first-time winner clinched 81.12 per cent of the mark to take home a
trophy, a certificate and a Sh125,000 token prize. She edged out Henry
Kiplagat of Nakuru and Moris Adera Ogutu of Lake region who came second
and third respectively. “I am very excited for this recognition. I have
been in the teaching profession for 32 years in Nandi and Trans Nzoia
but this is the first time I have earned such a recognition. I am very
jovial and truly grateful to God for this,” she said after receiving the
award. The 55-year-old mother of five attributes her success to her
unswerving passion for her teaching job, something she describes as a
calling.
She believes that her teaching experience for the 32 years in three
schools namely Misikhu Girls, Mukumu Girls and now St Brigid, has
trained her to handle students in a special way. Amidst tears of joy,
she did not hesitate to pass a message of advice to her colleagues in
the profession. She told the principals to “make it a habit of working
with the teachers and not making the teachers work for you. Always
strive to leave the school better than you found it and don’t keep
whining and asking for transfers.” “I am always motivated by the
expectations of the young leaners. Every time I arrive in the morning,
they greet me and I know they expect something new from me,” she said in
an interview.
But as the director of Quality Assurance and Standards Mohammed
Mwinyipembe explains, the award did not come on a silver platter as the
nominees had to undergo rigorous tests and scrutiny. He said the POYA
winner, who teaches Christian Religious Education has published 16 books
with the Moran publishers. Among the works published by Wanaswa include
Moran Primary CRE class one to eight and Moran CRE Teacher’s Guide
class one to eight. She has also worked with the East African Education
Publishers where she has published a book titled Peak Revision CRE as
well as one Encyclopedia for CRE. In addition, Wanaswa has an impressive
CV. She holds a Bachelor of Education degree from Kenyatta University
and she is currently undertaking a Master of Arts degree specialising in
CRE at Moi University. “Emerging the best was truly out of merit.
We weighed the nominees well and at the end we realised that Mrs
Wanaswa was an active teacher apart from being a principal in her
school. Her school was ranked position 40 nationally last year with a
mean score of 9.87. It was also ranked position nine in the national
school category,” said the director. Mwinyipembe says the bench of
judges established that Wanaswa had exhibited remarkable performance in
the art of publishing which was an added advantage over other
competitors. The award scheme was initiated by outgoing KSSHA chairman,
Cleophas Tirop, in 2008 to recognise teachers and principals who have
shown exemplary performances in the teaching profession.....Source: The People.
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