The Municipal Chief Executive, Mrs Veronica Ama Jackson, presenting a certificate to an award winner.

Tarkwa-Nsuaem honours 41 teachers, workers

Akwasi Ampratwum Mensah Education Sep - 30 - 2015 , 02:40 2 minutes read

THE Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Directorate of the Ghana Education Service (GES) has organised the 2015 Municipal Best Teacher/Worker award presentation ceremony at Tarkwa, the district capital, during which a total of 41 teachers and workers were honoured.

The ceremony, which was on the theme: ‘‘The Teacher - An Effective Tool for National Development’’, saw winners from three categories receiving awards. These were: The Competitive List for Category One (five males and one female), non- teaching personnel (two males, one female), teachers in deprived areas (five males, two females).

Category Two recognised teachers who were commended (eight males, 13 females) and Category Three honoured Well–Dressed Teachers (four males only).

Prizes received

For their prizes, they received table top fridges, gas stoves, lamps, burners, wax prints, rice cookers and certificates, with the award winners receiving different awards for the various categories.

The annual best teacher/worker award scheme, which is opened to all category of teachers and educational workers, was instituted by the Ministry of Education and the GES in 1995, as an incentive package for teachers to motivate them to work harder and to restore the respect the profession should enjoy.

For the national awards, personnel who qualify for the award, should have served for at least five years. Those who are also nominated, go through a selection process of appearing before a field assessment team and an interview panel.

At the same function, 30 junior high school (JHS) students who participated and made the municipality proud in the recent Science, Technology, Mathematics Innovation Education (STMIE), camp held in July 2015 at the Ghana Secondary Technical School (GSTS), in Takoradi, were also presented with certificates of honour.

Qualities

In an address, a former lecturer at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Ms Marian Lily Adams, noted that a combination of qualities made up good teachers, indicating that, teachers greatly influenced their students or pupils, hence the need for them to lead exemplary lives in order to positively influence the lives of their students and pupils.

The Municipal Director of Education, Mrs Veronica Ama Jackson, stressed the need to invest in teachers as they played a crucial role in the development of the youth. She also called on the GES staff to help sustain the scheme.

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Tarkwa-Nsuaem, Mrs Christina Kobinah, said education was the bedrock upon which every society developed that a nation with a weak educational system obviously experienced retarded growth and development.