Takoradi July 15, GNA - Fifteen teachers and three non-teaching staff of the Ghana Education Service (GES) were on Monday honoured at the 2002 Western Regional Best Teachers award ceremony at Takoradi. Miss Vera Afful of the Bishop Essuah Catholic Primary, Mrs Hannah Abakah of Terry Hayford JSS and Mr Fred Abban of the Badu Bonsu Senior Secondary School who emerged best in their respective categories were each presented with a double door refrigerator.
Mr Joseph B Aidoo, Western Regional Minister, called for the reintroduction of the modular programme and recruitment of pupil teachers to ease the acute shortage of qualified teachers in the rural areas.
''The situation must be addressed swiftly and precisely to ensure that each classroom gets a teacher.''
Mr Aidoo said the Best Teacher Awards was not only to motivate teachers to work harder but also as a means to transform the country's education.
"The quality of our human resource depends to a large extent on the impact teachers make on education and on the lives of their students, pupils and the community."
Mr Aidoo appealed to communities and stakeholders in education to explore new ways to honour teachers who give off their best.
Mr. Ahmed A Daramanu, the Regional Director of Education, appealed to teachers to be role models in their communities and schools. " We must ensure that our life styles both in and out of the classroom should be that of leadership, selflessness and dedication."
Speaking on behalf of the award winners Mr Abban expressed his appreciation to the regional directorate of the GES for the awards and urged teachers to take interest in their communities and contribute to the development of their pupils and students.
Miss Afful said she was selected out of 18 other primary school teachers from her school to compete and she is proud to have won the award.
"Though I won the award the honour is for the whole school," she said.
