Ridwan Samodien, Principal of Kannemeyer Primary, and co-founder of Citizen Leader Lab’s award-winning flagship programme, Partners for Possibility, has been announced as the recipient of the prestigious Kadar Asmal Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2022 National Teaching Awards.
This comes after the Western Cape Education Department in September announced its 10 provincial National Teaching Awards nominees in various categories. Samodien, who was named among these nominees, represented the Western Cape province in the national competition which took place on 20 October at the CSIR Conference Centre, Pretoria.
In an interview about his years as a school principal, Samodien emphasised the importance of an aligned and shared school vision to ensure children receive a quality education.
“Despite the derelict building, inside the four walls, is where the magic happens and that is where we [school leaders, teachers and the community} stand to give quality education to our children. We have aligned our vision for kids to receive quality education and not gutter education. So, over the years we have been able to improve the resources at the school, we have a science lab and we have a beautiful computer programme for our children.’’
Today, Kannemeyer boasts a visual learning zone, where the corridors and classrooms are adorned with words and graphics that remind its learners that they matter in the world. The school is also known for its efforts to encourage a culture of reading among its learners. Samodien has been integral in forging partnerships with organisations which are geared to assist us in developing a love for reading with meaning.
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. To date Partners for Possibility has more than 1,700 business in education partnerships across South Africa and aims to reach a further 200 schools this year.
The National Teaching Awards are hosted annually in recognition of South Africa’s foremost teachers, and celebrates outstanding educators who, often under challenging circumstances, remain committed to their roles in moulding the citizens of the future.
As the recipient of the Kadar Asmal Lifetime Achievement award, Samodien embodies the core values of the late former Minister of Education, Professor Kadar Asmal. Samodien has been described as a demanding educational activist who leads by example, a school leader with a conscience, intellectual tenacity and a passion for social justice.
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.
Visit www.PfP4SA.org for more information
