Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister for Education, says the Government has created a better learning environment for teachers to enhance quality delivery and respond to the 21st century needs of the country.
He commended MasterCard Foundation for funding the country’s educational transformation agenda in teacher training for improvement in quality learning outcomes.
The Minister was speaking at this year’s launch of the Ghana Teacher Prize on the theme: “The Transformation of Education Begins with the Teacher.”
This year’s event has been slated for October 5.
The transformation of the country’s education, he stated was dependent on the ability to work with teachers and give them the requisite skills to impact positively on the beneficiaries.
“We are training Science teachers with the requisite tool to raise the next generation of Engineers and Medical Doctors.
“A Science teacher who doesn’t have to wait for two months before he can do lab activity will provide better outcome for the country,” he said.
The Minister said the country was putting in place measures to ensure that after attaining access in secondary education through the free Senior High School, there would be increase in enrolment from 800,000 students to 1.3. students.
He said the Government through GETFund had provided resources for the construction of Science laboratories under the new STEM schools, with each having 12 laboratories.
The Member of Parliament for Bosomtwe said the Government was working relentlessly to truly transform schools to be fit for purpose and meet the needs of industry.
“It’s not good enough for us to have 48 schools in Ghana, high schools, where the pass rate is 1 per cent or less, we need to improve performance for the students to gain admission to the universities.
The Minister assured the teaching profession of Government’s support, stressing “motivating the teacher is not only a means to an end but a means to creating a more robust education system.”
Mr Christian Addai-Poku, the Registrar, National Teaching Council, said the Prize sought to reward and motivate high performing teachers across all educational levels in the country.
As part of activities for the ceremony, Dr Addai-Poku said there would be a two-day symposium and a national durbar to mark the celebration on October 5, in Tamale.
The winner would 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 would receive a saloon car, sponsored by Data Bank.
Other prizes, including fridges, deep freezers, laptops, television sets, educational materials and cash prizes, will be presented to other deserving schools and teachers.
Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, the Director-General, Ghana Education Service, commended teachers for their role in national development and instituted a personal special “D-G award for best Early Childhood Teacher.”
He announced that the award winners would be promoted.
Source GNA