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IT WAS THE third Tower Hamlets Education Awards; it brought together 900 guests; and it recognised a wide range of achievement across Tower Hamlets by school and college students.
Mayor Lutfur Rahman
Mayor Lutfur Rahman congratulated the winners and explained the reason for the awards. “We want every young person in our borough to succeed and make the most of the opportunities that are available to them,” he said. “Education remains one of our top priorities, and we’ll continue to invest in children, young people and families, so that everyone has the best opportunity to thrive.
“Our Education Awards are just one of the ways we celebrate and show support for young people in our borough. Since reintroducing our Education Maintenance Allowance and University Bursary schemes, we have provided financial support to around 6,500 young people, helping them continue their education. At the same time, our universal free school meals and school uniform grants are helping to ease the cost pressures faced by families.”
Measures such as Free School Meals don’t only help families – they also help the students as well. You can’t teach a hungry child, so Free School Meals helps children learn and achieve more, as well as helping families with the cost of living.
The Awards recognise the achievement of young people inside and outside the classroom. Schools and colleagues can nominate young people for an award for academic achievements, leadership, creativity, resilience, kindness and contributions to school and community life. Too often “partnership” is seen – especially by government – as making Councils set up what are basically local mini-quangos which are little more than talking shops for the usual suspects. The Education Awards are a vibrant, living partnership of front line practitioners and the young people themselves.
Deputy Mayor Cllr Maium Talukdar
This was the point stressed by the Deputy Mayor Cllr Maium Talukdar. “These awards recognise much more than academic success,” he said. “They celebrate students who have shown resilience in overcoming challenges, leadership in supporting others, creativity in expressing themselves, and commitment to making a positive difference in their schools and communities. Every student recognised today should be incredibly proud of their achievements. We can’t wait to see what they do next.”
Cllr Faysal Ahmed
Cllr Faysal Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People, and Life Chances (another job title from the Ministry of Silly Names), highlighted the efforts put in by young people and which the Awards reflected. “Behind every award is a story of hard work, dedication and perseverance,” he said, “and I’m proud of each and every student that has shown us what an incredibly talented young community we have here in Tower Hamlets. The Education Awards are also an opportunity to say thanks to all of our teachers and support staff at our schools, as well as parents and carers whose encouragement helps young people reach their full potential.”
Musa Noor
Musa Noor, Young Mayor of Tower Hamlets, also congratulated the winners. “The Education Award recipients have shown what young people in this borough can achieve when they work hard and believe in themselves” she said. “Everyone recognised today should feel proud of what they have accomplished and excited about the opportunities ahead.”
●Read more about it:
Mayor Lutfur Rahman praises school achiement
School uniform: top marks for Lutfur; Labour in second
