Kumasi, April 27, GNA - The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, on Wednesday, honoured the first batch of 200 teachers and other education workers, working in deprived schools, under his Charity Foundation. They were selected from the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Eastern and the Volta Regions.

Among them was 26-year-old disabled, Faustina Nana Yaa Kwakye, a female teacher at the EPA Primary School in the Jasikan district. They were each presented with a solar lamp with charger, insecticide treated mosquito net, wall clock with the Asantehene's portrait, a pair of Wellington boots, a cutlass and a certificate. Additionally, they shared among themselves an amount of GH¢50,000.00. The ceremony comes 12 years into the reign of the Asantehene and coincided with the Awukudae festival, an important day on the Asante Calendar, during which esoteric rituals are performed to purify the sacred stools of the Asante Kingdom.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu said the awards were in recognition of the outstanding contribution they were making towards the development of the country's education.

He said he was confident that they would be motivated to do more to enhance the academic performance of their schools. Teachers, he said, needed to be rewarded for the good job they were doing to develop the nation's human capital. The Asantehene pledged more support for those who accept to teach in remote and deprived communities.

Mr Sarfo Kanatanka Agyemang, Head teacher of Drobon Presby Junior High School (JHS), in the Ejura-Sekyedomase District, on behalf of his colleagues, thanked the Asantehene for the honour. He said they were proud of the recognition and promised to continue to work hard to improve the standard of education. 27 April 11