A 44-year-old teacher of the Winneba Senior High School (SHS) in the Efutu Municipality of the Central Region, Ebenezer Kojo Otoo, was on Tuesday crowned the 2021 National Best Teacher.
For his prize, Mr Otoo received a GHC250,000 cheque for a three-bedroom house sponsored by GLICO Pension.
At the Ghana Teachers Prize 2021 Awards held in Sunyani, Reverend Sister Jacinta Kwakyewaa, a tutor at the St. Francis SH/Technical School in the Birim Central Municipality of the Eastern Region was adjudged the first runner-up and she received a brand new 4×4 pick-up vehicle from the Prudential Bank.
The National Teaching Council, organisers of the awards, presented a brand new saloon car to Nelson Saviour Kwashie of the Awutu Swinton SHS in the Awutu Senya District of the Central Region for the second runner-up position.
Cash prizes ranging between GHC5,000 and GHC7,000 as well as other valuable items were presented to other 17 deserving teaching and non-teaching staff, who distinguished themselves in other categories of the award, including Junior High, Primary and Kindergarten levels.
Held on the theme: “Teachers Wanted: Reclaiming Teaching and Learning for a Human-Centered Recovery,” the awards funded by the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) recognised the strenuous contributions of teachers towards the attainment of quality education as Ghana joined the rest of the world to mark the World Teachers Day.
World Teachers Day focuses on appreciating, assessing and improving the educators of the world and providing an opportunity to consider issues related to teachers and teaching.
Established in 1994, the day commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 International Labour Organisation/UNESCO recommendation, concerning the Status of Teachers, which is a standard-setting instrument that addresses the status and situations of teachers around the world.
Dr Mohammed Ibrahim Awal, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister, Reverend Stephen Ntim Fordjour, a Deputy Minister of Education in-charge of General Education and Gifty Twum Ampofo, also a Deputy Minister of Education in-charge of Technical-Vocation Education and Training (TVET) presented the prizes to the deserving teachers.
GNA