BIC’s Global Education Week celebrates exceptional educators from around the world

BIC, a world leader in Stationery, Lighters, and Shavers, announced the winners of its ‘BIC Cristal Pen Awards 2020’.

Recognized among the 10 most impactful educators around the world, Ronald Ddungu from the Gayaza High School was selected as the winner from Uganda for his exceptional contribution towards his students and for being a beacon of hope and optimism in an academically exigent year.

Globally, the education system has been witnessing a sea-change due to the altering socio-economic landscape triggered by the ongoing pandemic. Through this, teachers have been the crucial connector between students and their schools, going beyond their call of duty to ensure their students continue to find joy in the new methods of learning.

In an effort to recognize and honor the valuable contributions of teachers during these unprecedented times, BIC introduced the first edition of its BIC Cristal Pen Awards that were launched in conjunction with the company’s Global Education Week initiative.

The award aims to celebrate exceptional educators around the world who inspire and bring joy to children every day while equipping them towards a more empowered future.

The nominations of the educators came from BIC employees from around the group and the winners included 10 winners from the US, Australia, India, Uganda, Ethiopia, Brazil, Greece, and Turkey.

Ronald Ddungu is an entrepreneurship advocate as he recognizes it as a key driver of innovation, competitiveness, and growth. He also recognizes the challenges that schools face in delivering entrepreneurial focused programs.

Building on his years of experience, Ddungu has helped transform his school’s curriculum to integrate agriculture entrepreneurship and train his fellow educators on teaching practical agriculture methods through their various subjects; mathematics, English, Science, and others. He also started the FARM CAMP, an annual event that brings students and teachers together to improve their agricultural enterprise skills and connect them with farmers and experts to learn more about business. This event engages teachers from different subjects to help them design lesson plans that make use of the farm units and all the related activities.

The BIC Cristal Awards prize includes a grant of 5,000 EUR and a BIC Stationery product donation towards his school in addition to a custom-designed trophy from Tiffany’s &Co.

Commenting on the new award, Michael Sinclair, General Manager, BIC East Africa said, “To invest in our future, we must invest in our children. This is a core tenet to BIC’s philosophy of improving lives through education. As a company, our vision is to improve learning conditions for 250 million children worldwide by 2025.

Sinclair added that the BIC Cristal Pen Awards was conceptualized in essence to not just help students, but to also celebrate devoted educators whose resilience, expertise, and contribution in their field often goes unnoticed.

For educators, Sinclair said that the pandemic has been both an adaptive and transformative experience that had no organized playbook and this award is a recognition of their adaptability in the face of the unforeseen education challenge and protecting their student’s learning opportunities.

"We would like to congratulate Mr. Ddungu for his exceptional contribution towards his school and his students and hope this grant can help him along in his mission towards improving more young lives," Sinclair said.

BIC has long been an advocate for improving lives through education and Sinclair said that it is committed to enhancing the learning conditions for 250 million children globally by 2025.

The Group, according to Sinclair, aims to help children succeed in their education by providing improved learning conditions and in-school infrastructure. In support of this mission and given the constraints on in-person volunteering due to COVID-19, BIC created the BIC Cristal Pen Awards program as part of its annual Global Education Week.

"Whether classes are virtual, in-person, or both, the awards aim to acknowledge the extraordinary work done by 10 educators globally through an open nomination program," Sinclair added.