Faith Aku Dzakpasu, a teacher at the Greta “D” Shepherd Basic School in the Ga Central District, Greater Accra Region, has emerged as the national best teacher for 2023. She was awarded a three-bedroom house worth GH₵450,000 for being the Most Outstanding Teacher of the Year.
The first runner-up prize was Isabella Wussah-Tetteh, who teaches at the Sege D/A Primary & KG School in the Greater Accra Region.
The 6th Teachers Prize awards ceremony was held at the Ghana Secondary Technical School (GSTS) in the Western Region, with the nation’s elite teachers, educationists and personalities in attendance, including President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who was the special guest of honor.
In his address, President Akufo-Addo expressed his profound gratitude to teachers working tirelessly to ensure that Ghana achieves Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 by providing quality education to students and being pioneered by the government.
The president stated that under the government’s new Comprehensive National Teacher Policy, the distribution of laptop computers, enhancement of skillsets, and institution of appropriate welfare incentives have evidently translated into improved effectiveness for local educators.
The President noted the huge investment in the education sector, the retooling of institutions, the upgrade in teacher standards and professionalism and the Free Senior High School policy as a model of hope, adding, “Our hope is an education system that leaves no child behind.”
President Akufo-Addo acknowledged the many challenges confronting the sector despite the upgrade and retooling, pledging the commitment to resourcing teachers, improving conditions and creating the enabling environment for teachers to thrive.”
Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister for Education, appreciated the teeming teacher population of the country for their hard work and dexterity towards the Ghanaian child. He said the country needed those core elements, such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and effective communication, in teaching and learning and prayed that the Ghanaian teacher would become conscious of such factors.
The Reverend Isaac Owusu, President of the Ghana National Association of Teachers, prayed for more remuneration and resources for teachers and appealed to the government through the Ghana Education Service to fulfill its promise of 20 percent gross salary payments for teachers who accepted postings to underserved areas.
The Best Teacher Award was instituted in 1995 and later rebranded as the Ghana Teacher Prize in 2017 to motivate teachers to aim for higher performance and restore the respect of the profession.
It is also to retain qualified teachers and improve their work performance and overall effectiveness in the classroom.
The ceremony was held as part of activities to mark this year’s World Teachers’ Day, on the theme “The Teachers We Need for the Education We Want: The Global Imperative to Reverse the Teacher Shortage.”
President Akufo-Addo, joined by the Minister of Education, Dr. Osei Adutwum, and other officials from the Ghana Education Service (GES), presented the Most Outstanding Teacher award to Mrs. Faith Aku Dzakpasu.
She expressed joy and gratitude at the recognition and honor done to her and encouraged her colleagues to work hard to receive similar rewards in the future.
