Fifty-two teachers receive awards

A total of 52 teachers have received national awards for their hard work and dedication to duty to mark this year’s National Best Teachers Awards.

A total of 360 schools selected from all regions of the country from kindergarten to senior high school (SHS) levels were also awarded as part of the First National Best School Awards.

The 52 award winning teachers were selected from 12 national level best teacher categories including primary school, junior high school (JHS), SHS, basic school science /mathematics, SHS science / mathematics, non-teaching personnel, technical/vocational subjects, special education amongst others.

The first winners in each category received double door refrigerator, and LED television set each, second winners in each category also took home laptop computer, four burner gas cooker, cylinder and regulator each while third winners in each category took home double door refrigerator, four burner gas cooker, cylinder and regulator each.

Other categories included foreign volunteers, national service and HIV and AIDS Alert Model School, who also received awards at the ceremony, which was on the theme: “Empowering Teachers, Building Sustainable Societies”.

The 360 best schools were selected from four categories including general selection of schools, schools with marked improvement at examinations, best performing schools in mathematics and science at SHS level, best performing schools in mathematics and science at JHS level and some of the winning schools were Nandom SHS and Sacred Heart Primary in Sunyani.

This year’s awards mark a departure from previous years’ where apart from individual awards, a teacher was selected for the overall best teacher award.

The Vice President, Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, who addressed the awards ceremony in Tamale on Monday, saluted all teachers and educational workers in the country thanking them for their dedicated service.

Mr Amissah-Arthur said government recognized that well-trained and motivated teachers played a crucial role in building sustainable societies through the provision of high quality education hence the expansion of this year’s awards to include the First Edition of the National Best School Awards.

He, therefore, called on teachers to reflect on the theme of the occasion and “Think not only on what government can do, but also how teachers can empower themselves through knowledge acquisition and adoption of new and innovative approaches that will make a difference in our schools”.

He announced that the Pre-tertiary Teacher Professional Development and Management Programme designed to empower teachers through a system of professional development was being piloted in five districts to equip teachers with defined competencies in preparation towards Licensing and Registration.

He said after the pilot, the National Teaching Council and the Ghana Education Service would review and modify the framework on career progression for operationalization in 2016.

Mr Amissah-Arthur said government under the Secondary Education Improvement Project, had started the implementation of the last phase of the Science Resource Centre Project for 100 SHS, with the training of 250 science teachers and laboratory technicians.

He also touched on outstanding issues with teacher unions regarding conditions of service saying “Let me thank teachers and the union leaders for their patience and understanding over the period and request them to continue to exercise restraint and work with all parties to resolve the outstanding issues”.

Mr Alex Kofi Kyeremeh, Deputy Minister of Education in-charge of Pre-tertiary, urged teachers to discharge their duties effectively to ensure quality education in the country.

Alhaji Mohammed-Muniru Limuna, Northern Regional Minister challenged teachers and educational workers to consider quality awareness and self-evaluation to reflect on their teaching skills to create an optimal learning environment.

Mr Saviour Yao Zikpi, a Mathematics Teacher at Teiman Saint James Anglican JHS in the La Nkwantanang Madina Municipal Assembly, who was a first category award winner, said he felt honoured to receive the national award and recognition.

Mr Zikpi, who has been teaching at the school for 11 years now, said through hard work, the results of pupils in the area of Mathematics in the school had been good and thanked God for the feat chalked.