Ridwan Samodien has been described as ‘’a change agent in education, dedicated to improving the lives of the marginalised learners in his community’’
Ridwan Samodien, Principal of Kannemeyer Primary, and co-founder of Citizen Leader Lab’s award-winning flagship programme, Partners for Possibility, has been named as the provincial recipient of the prestigious Kadar Asmal Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the 2022 National Teaching Awards.
At a ceremony held at Century City on 9 September, the Western Cape Education Department announced the 10 provincial winners of the National Teaching Awards in their respective categories. The nominees, including Samodien, will go on to represent the Western Cape province in the national competition taking place in October.
Now in its 22nd year, the National Teaching Awards acknowledge and celebrate teachers who have made extraordinary strides within the education sector. The awards honour excellence in primary school teaching, secondary school teaching, primary school leadership, secondary school leadership, Grade R teaching, special needs teaching and Adult Basic Education and Training.
The Kadar Asmal Lifetime Achievement award recognises an outstanding educator who embodies the core values of the late former Minister of Education, Professor Kadar Asmal, while at the same time honours Prof Asmal for his contribution to the development of education in South Africa.
As the 2022 provincial receipt of this award, Samodien, in a career that has spanned 30 years, has demonstrated the key values of Prof Asmal‘s leadership. Samodien continues to be a demanding educational activist who leads by example, a school leader with a conscience, intellectual tenacity and rigour and a feel for social justice.
Samodien’s aim is to build the self-esteem of learners to help them transcend their socio-economic circumstances. Through his participation in different community organisations, he has fostered good relations and collaboration between the school and the community. He is also an accredited and experienced life coach and facilitator and has actively and successfully dealt with the impact of social challenges on Kannemeyer Primary’s learners and the broader school community. Samodien has made a lasting impression on his colleagues, learners and the community by being a role model, mentor and coach to many.
In 2010, Samodien paired up with Partners for Possibility co-founder, Louise van Rhyn, which led to positive change at Kannemeyer Primary and the community at large. The school’s success has been the model for the Partners for Possibility programme that exists today, and the lessons learnt have been applied to subsequent partnerships, as school principals and business leaders strive to improve education in South Africa together.
About Partners for Possibility
Citizen Leader Lab’s flagship programme, Partners for Possibility, pairs school principals with business leaders in a 12-month collaborative and practical leadership journey. Through this process, school principals become empowered to embed their schools at the centre of their communities and to improve the quality of education being offered to our youth
The programme features the key elements of professional coaching, five-days of world-class training workshops over the course of the year, practical leadership development exposure in an under-resourced South African community and regular learning and networking opportunities for school principals and business leaders.
