40 TEACHERS RECEIVE AWARDS FOR HARD WORK (Page 11)

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover, Bolgatanga

FORTY teachers and six non-teaching members of staff in the Upper East Region have been presented with various awards for their hard work in 2005 and 2006, long after their awards were announced.     
The awards ceremony was organised by the Ghana Education Service (GES). The first prize winners in the various categories received a double-door refrigerator each. Those who placed second each got a 21-inch colour television, while those who placed third each went away with a four-burner gas cooker.
Sadly, one of the award winners did not live to receive the fruit of his hard work. This sad situation led to an appeal to the GES to endeavour to hold the award ceremony in good time so as not to defeat the purpose.
The Best Teacher Awards Scheme, which was instituted in 1995, is organised every year at the regional, metropolitan, municipal and district levels with a view to motivating teachers and also give them recognition for hard work.
Ms Seidu emphasised that it was very important that people acknowledge the sacrifices and selfless contributions of teachers and workers in the educational sector towards attaining the national goals. She also appealed to the business community to lend a hand of support in connection with the Best Teacher Award Scheme to make it enviable and sustainable.
She commended the Upper East Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC), the municipal and district assemblies as well as UNICEF and ActionAid International Ghana for their support, which made the ceremony that had been pending for a long time possible.
The Chief Director of the RCC, Mr Samuel N'lary, who deputised for the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Alhassan Samari, in an address read on his behalf, commended teachers for their invaluable contribution to social development.
Mr Samari said the government’s commitment to ensuring quality education for children was clearly manifested with the introduction of programmes such as the Distance Learning Programme, Untrained Teacher Diploma in Basic Education for pupil teachers, upgrading of all certificate A teachers to diploma status, as well as upgrading of teacher training colleges.