06 September 2016

Six teachers received the President’s Award for Teachers from President Tony Tan Keng Yam at the Istana last week. The award recognized outstanding educators for innovative teaching methods and commitment to inculcating the rights values and spirit of inquiry in students.

One winner was Spectra Secondary School’s Lyvenne Chong who introduced a Garden-Based Service Learning programme last year as part of the school’s Character and Citizenship Education curriculum. Under the programme, students faithfully tend to vegetables like lettuce and kangkong at a rooftop garden and then sell them to the public at a farmer’s market, with proceeds going toward students on financial assistance.

Five other teachers who also received the award include Madam Juliana Johari, Ms O Guat Bee, Mr Anil Vasudevan, Madam Michele Tang, and Mr Tharmendra Jeyaraman. The winners were selected by a panel chaired by Ms Denise Phua, head of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Education, out of a pool of 2,557 nominees.

More than 70 teachers have received the award since its introduction in 1998.