A 35 year old teacher, Ms. Irene Essel of the Abeka Motorway Junior High School in Accra was adjudged this year’s National Best Teacher at a ceremony in Ho, on Monday. She would be provided with a self-contained house worth sixty thousand Ghana Cedis at a place of her choice, as her award for dedicated service in her profession and to the state.
Mr. Siaka Aminu, 31, from the Laribanga D|A Primary School in the Northern region was the first runner-up and took away a pick-up, computers and accessories, while a 50year old man, Mr. Raynold Quansah Justice, from Abrakyere Senior High School in the Central region, was the second runner-up. He also took home a saloon car, computers and accessories.
Thirty retired teachers from the Volta region also took various prizes ranging from ghetto-blasters to certificates as their awards. Three foreign volunteer teachers in the country were also recognized and awarded. In a citation, the three foreign volunteer teachers were described as hard working and dedicated to their job. They received certificates.
Fifty brilliant but needy children selected from the coastal areas were given free school uniforms, bags, pens, pencils books and canvas to support their education.
Addressing the gathering, President John Atta Mills whose speech was read by his Vice, John Mahama, commended the award winners and teachers and said government would invest in teachers to build a brighter future for the country.
The President gave the assurance that government was committed to playing a significant role to help transform teaching as a profession, to enable teachers to offer quality and resourceful education to improve on lives of the people in the society.
President Mills noted that there were disparities in the remuneration of teachers as compared to other workers, and hoped that the Single Spine salary structure which would be introduced next year would help address such concerns.
The President used the opportunity to task teachers and parents to come up with strategies that would monitor students and pupils to prevent them from engaging in cybercrimes. As part of measures to motivate teachers to put in their best, President Mills charged Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, as well as district directors of education to organize district best teacher awards annually to serve as motivation for teachers.
He encouraged teachers to take advantage of the distance learning education programme and to upgrade their knowledge, adding that government’s financial support for the programme would be maintained and enhanced.
The National President of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Mr. Joseph Kwaku Adjei called for positive collaboration and mutual respect for one another, as stakeholders to help provide the needed education for children in schools. He urged teachers to be dedicated to their work in order to provide quality education for children, and lauded the efforts of the award winners, adding that such achievements should serve as a challenge to others to perform and also win laurels for their communities.
The Volta Regional Minister, Mr. Joseph Amenowode urged stakeholders in education to contribute their quota to the National awards, as part of their contribution to the promotion of education in the country. He commended the planning committee for a good job done.
The Paramount Chief of the Asogli traditional area, Togbe Afede XIV, who chaired the occasion appealed to the government to re-examine the issue of extra classes in government schools, since it was one of the factors that affect effective teaching and learning, because some teachers fail to complete the syllabus and later charge students money to complete what they are supposed to teach in normal classes.
Present at the function were Mr. Alex Tettey-Enyo, Minister of Education, Dr. Joseph Annan, Deputy Minister in charge of Tertiary Education, Mr. Samuel Bannerman Mensah, Director General of the Ghana Education Service, Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms. Akua Sena Dansu and Member of Parliament for Ho Central Capt. (rtd) George Nfodjoh.
