2020 Ghana Teacher Prize launched
The Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education, Professor Kwesi Yankah, has launched the 2020 Ghana Teacher Prize (GTP), with a call on stakeholders to renew their commitment to the educational sector.
He said the Teacher Prize scheme underlined the importance of the teaching profession and symbolised the high recognition the teacher deserved.
Advertisement
Honouring teachers
Launching the prize on behalf of the Minister of Education, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Professor Yankah indicated that the awards would serve as a great moral gesture to honour teachers and cherish them for the wonderful work they had done over the years, especially during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) times.
"If there is one thing the pandemic has taught parents, it is lessons about the critical role of teachers in the midst of such global crisis," he said.
Speaking on the theme: “Teacher leadership in developing crisis, education responses,” Prof. Yankah said this year had virtually put every sector of national life under stress and produced crisis that had triggered a new normal in all sphere of life.
According to him, students and teachers in particular had not been spared the fury of the global pandemic, leading to the loss of teaching jobs, lives and livelihoods; shutting down of schools and the trial reopening of same.
Recognising contribution
Prof. Yankah mentioned that the Ministry of Education was committed to recognising the contributions of hardworking and selfless teachers to improve their work performance and overall effectiveness in the classrooms.
The minister, who commended all teachers, especially those handling final-year students, also called on corporate bodies and individuals to donate towards the GTP in appreciation of the good work of teachers.
"I want to urge us all to renew our commitment to the education of our children and particularly to our teachers who make it all happen under these trying circumstances," the Minister of State added.
Teachers take risks
For his part, the acting Executive Secretary of the National Teaching Council, Mr Christian Addai-Poku, said teachers had always taken risks, particularly in “our part of the world where the teacher was the ‘front-line health professional”.
According to him, teachers found innovative ways to ensure that learners learnt even as every school across the globe had been shut down, virtually, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Addai-Poku added that teachers’ professionalism and selflessness came to its peak when they accepted to go back to school to support final-year students to complete their final term and to graduate.
Ghana Teacher Prize
The Ghana Teacher Prize, which seeks to reward high performing teachers in the country, is also to motivate teachers across all educational levels in the country.
The event, which has been slated for October 5, this year in Cape Coast, will be preceded by a conference on Education, dubbed Edu-Conference, an exhibition and symposium on October 4, aimed at disseminating research findings, as well as an exhibition to expose participants to innovative approaches and best practices that support the teacher to become effective towards higher learner outcomes.
Prizes
The winner will receive a three-bedroom house, with the first runner-up taking home a 4X4 double-cabin pickup truck, sponsored by Prudential Bank, while the second runner-up will receive a saloon car.
Other prizes, including fridges, deep freezers, laptops, television sets, educational materials and cash prizes, will be presented to other deserving schools and teachers.