Birim Central honours 12 teachers
The Birim Central Municipal Education Directorate in the Eastern Region last Wednesday honoured 12 outstanding teachers at a Teacher Prize ceremony at Akyem Oda.
Advertisement
The guest speaker for the ceremony, Senior Presidential Advisor, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, stressed that since no profession in the country was comparable to teaching, dedicated teachers should always be recognised and motivated to continue to give their best.
He said that he introduced the distance education programme in the country when he was the Minister of Education, as a measure to retain the large number of teachers who were anxious to further their education in the universities at the expense of their students.
He said the distance learning programme had enabled many teachers to become graduates in the comfort of their homes.
Mr Osafo-Maafo, a co-sponsor of the awards, emphasised that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) government would continue to motivate all categories of teachers to work hard to ensure the rapid development of the country.
He was full of praise for the Member of Parliament (MP) for Oda, Alexander Akwasi Acquah, for regularly providing infrastructure and educational materials for schools in the municipality and urged other affluent people in the area to follow his example.
He urged parents and other stakeholders to not toy with education, which is a legacy for which teachers are torchbearers.
Mr Osafo-Maafo congratulated the award winners and enjoined those who were not recognised this year to work harder for them to be considered in the years ahead.
He urged the Municipal Education Directorate to sustain the awards scheme which had been abandoned since 2012.
Motivation
The Municipal Director of Education, Esther Quaye-Sowah, said since teachers were the custodians of power that was key to prosperity, there was a need for them to be motivated and retained to play their pivotal role in education development.
She enumerated a myriad of challenges inhibiting education progress in the municipality, including inadequate infrastructure and computers, and appealed for help to solve the problems.
She called for assistance to establish a basic school at Community Six, a suburb of Oda, as pupils resident in the area had to travel a long distance to attend school in the heart of Oda.
Mrs Quaye-Sowah also commended the MP for Oda for his commitment to education development in the area.
She expressed her appreciation to the sponsors of the awards, namely Glico Insurance, DOMOD Aluminium, Advocate Publishing, Mr Osafo-Maafo, Alhaji Ismail Ibrahim at the Office of the Vice-President and the Birim Central Municipal Assembly.
Awards
An Assistant Superintendent of Immigration, Mr Yahaya Yunus Ibrahim, who deputised for his brother, Alhaji Ismail Ibrahim, the Head of Operations at the office of the Vice-President, to present three awards sponsored by the latter for kindergarten, primary and junior high school, said the benefactor had promised to sponsor more awards in the years ahead.
The Head of the Science Department of Oda Senior High School, Divine Narh Ankrah, who was adjudged the Overall Best Teacher, was presented with a 43-inch colour television set, a plague and a certificate.
The first runner-up, Millicent Fiagbomeh of the Oda St Francis Senior High/Technical School, and the second runner-up, William Amo Antwi of the Oda Attafuah Senior High/Technical School, were both presented with television sets, plagues and certificates.
Each of the nine other award winners was also presented with a 32-inch colour television set, educational materials and certificates.
The ceremony attracted many dignitaries including the Municipal Chief Executive for Birim Central, Victoria Adu; the Central Regional Director of Education, Emmanuel Essuman, and the Oda Methodist Diocesan Bishop, Very Rev. Isaac Kwame Boateng, who chaired the function.