The Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the National Teaching Council (NTC), has launched this year’s Ghana Teacher Prize in Accra, pledging renewed support for teacher welfare, professional development and recognition.
The annual event recognises the contribution of hardworking and selfless teachers towards improving education in the country through teacher-based innovation.
The launch, which took place in Accra last Thursday, was held on the theme, “Empowering Teachers: Architects of the Future.”
Impact of teachers
Speaking at the launch, the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, in a speech read on his behalf by the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Linda Obenewaa Akweley Ocloo, said teachers remained central to the success of the country’s education system and national development.
He said every achievement recorded in medicine, engineering, industry, the arts and other sectors could be traced to the classroom and the teachers who helped shape the individuals behind those achievements.
“Teachers do not simply prepare students for examinations; they prepare the nation for its future. They are quite literally architects of everything Ghana will become,” he said.
Mr Iddrisu said no education reform or curriculum, regardless of how well designed or forward-looking, could succeed without well-trained, motivated and supported teachers.
He said the government was therefore committed to improving the welfare, professional development and dignity of teachers.
According to him, the government was working closely with the NTC on teacher licensing and continuous professional development, while engaging the Ghana Education Service and other stakeholders on conditions of teaching and service.
He said the government was also working with development partners to attract investments to improve teaching and learning environments across the country.
Mr Iddrisu said the Ghana Teacher Prize formed part of the broader effort to motivate teachers, stressing that recognition, dignity and appreciation were important to teachers’ motivation alongside remuneration and resources.
Teacher welfare measures
The minister said the government had taken several steps since assuming office to address longstanding concerns in the teaching profession.
He said more than 30,000 teachers with diploma qualifications had been placed on the appropriate salary scale, resolving a grievance which had persisted for years.
He also announced that nationwide parent-teacher associations had been reactivated to strengthen school governance and discipline.
Mr Iddrisu said the government was finalising arrangements for a 20 per cent rural posting allowance for teachers serving in deprived communities.
He said the waiting period for teachers who self-posted to deprived areas to qualify for study leave with pay had also been reduced from four years to three years.
Through the Teacher Diploma Initiative, he said the government was working to provide decent accommodation for teachers in rural and deprived communities.
He added that the government had directed that new school infrastructure contracts should include accommodation for teachers.
Mr Iddrisu said the 2026 Budget had allocated GH¢33.3 billion to education, with resources dedicated to constructing 200 junior high schools, 200 primary schools and 200 kindergartens.
He said the budget also provided for the construction of 400 teachers’ quarters to ease accommodation challenges across the country.
“These are not mere figures.
They represent a government that listens to its teachers and backs its work with resources,” he said.
The minister said the NTC had also expanded its reach through new regional offices in Kumasi and Tamale, bringing professional support and learning opportunities closer to teachers across the country.
Call for dedicated fund
The Board Chairman of the NTC, Kwami Alorvi, said the Ghana Teacher Prize had over the years grown into one of the most cherished events on Ghana’s national education calendar.
He said teachers did more than impart knowledge, as they laid the foundation upon which the future of the country would be built.
“Every medical doctor who has ever saved a life, every engineer who has ever built a bridge, every president who has ever governed a nation had first sat in a classroom before a teacher who believed in them and transformed them into what they are,” he said.
Mr Alorvi said the country had changed the name of the award to the Ghana Teacher Prize in 2018, following the country’s observance of World Teachers’ Day on October 5 every year.
He said the annual launch served several purposes, including creating awareness of World Teachers’ Day, raising funds for the awards and promoting finalists competing in the various categories.
