Sunyani, (B/A) July 23, GNA – One hundred and eight teachers and educational workers in Brong-Ahafo were on Friday presented with awards for their meritorious service to the region and the nation for the past three years.

The Regional “Best Teacher/Worker Awards” ceremony, held by the Regional Directorate of the Ghana Education Service, (GES) was the outcome of assessment on the awardees from 2008 to 2010.

Twelve females were among the first three awardees in each category as against 24 males.

The award winners were selected from the Primary, Junior High, Senior High and the College of Education. There were also awards for Basic Mathematics, Science, Vocational/Technical, French and the Non-Teaching categories.

Delivering the key note address, Mr. Eric Opoku, Deputy Regional Minister, said the event was a true reflection of the saying that a ‘nation that does not honour its heroes is not worth dying for’.

“I am impressed by this very significant event to honour persons within the region who have contributed immensely to the growth, development and progress of education in Brong-Ahafo, and indeed, Ghana as a whole,” Mr. Opoku stressed.

He congratulated the beneficiaries on their outstanding accomplishments saying they had left an indelible mark in the sands of time, which to others was just a dream.

Mr Opoku noted that present and future generations would be motivated and inspired by the event and emulate the awardees.

“Their achievements will also serve as a source of faith to others in the belief that hard work is recognized and rewarded accordingly,” he added.

The deputy regional minister noted that: “Education is the fulcrum around which development revolves as the human resource of any nation is the catalyst that drives its development agenda and efforts.

“It is the quality of human and not the physical resources that will determine the character and pace of national development.”

Mr Opoku stressed that as a social democratic government, the Mills administration had embarked on the provision of massive and modern infrastructure at all levels of the nation’s educational system to create the needed congenial environment for sound teaching and learning.

The deputy regional minister announced that plans were far advanced to implement the 20 percent allowance to teachers who accept postings to deprived communities.

He expressed the hope the measure would eliminate the daunting impediment to quality education delivery, which had been contributing to shortage of teachers in rural areas.

Mr Yaw Manu Yeboah, Regional Director of Education, said the awardees were part of 33,134 teachers in the region of which 20,389 were in primary, 10,263 in Junior High School and 2,302 in Senior High Schools.

He catalogued a number of needed incentives or motivational packages such as removal of schools under trees, provision of decent accommodation for teachers in rural areas and many others “that can let teachers feel they are getting their rewards here on earth and not in heaven as used to be in the past”.

Nana Boakye Yiadom, Omanhene of Badu Traditional Area, who represented the President of Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs, Osahene Kwaku Aterkyi 11, who is also the Omanhene of Kukuom, advised the award winners not to relax on their oars but to continue to work hard for more laurels in subsequent years.

Nana Kwaku Sarbeng II, Akwamuhene of Sunyani, who presided, appealed to the government to fast-track any decision relating to the migration of teachers onto the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSS) to bring down the current tension and agitation among teachers, Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the government to ensure harmony in the educational set up.

The first three awardees were presented with a refrigerator, a four burner gas cooker and a 21-inch television, respectively.