Dept to reward top pupils

By PETER WARI
THE Hela Department of Education will reward its top-performing grade 10 and 12 students, director Ronny Angu says.
Angu said those who scored highly in the national examinations and attained A’s in their overall grades would be given incentives such as having their school fees paid.
He said the incentives were to motivate the students and their teachers and would be given annually after the results were published online by the Education Department.
Angu said head teachers would be required to access their school’s grades 10 and 12 online results next week and identify students who scored A’s in the subjects and their teachers.
He said the department would also co-sponsor students who made it directly to universities next year and onwards.
Angu said he would be expecting the results and names to be submitted to him by next Wednesday.
“We have a selection criteria in place through which the final names of students and teachers will be chosen from,” he said.
“I am looking forward to your examination results, so we can start the process of identifying our best-performing students and teachers for this year.”
Angu said Hela’s standard of education had fallen over the years and his office and the provincial government were keen on improving standards by motivating students and teachers to be committed to their studies and teaching.
He said law and order issues had impacted education in the province but the situation was improving. Angu said his office had ensured that there was more accountability, parent involvement, adapting to new technologies and making sure the needs of schools were looked into.