Cape Coast, Nov. 5, GNA - All the three top prizes at the National Best Teachers Awards Ceremony held at Cape Coast on Saturday went to female teachers. Forty-six year old Mrs Doris Naana Maafo, an English tutor at the Sunyani Secondary School, won the overall best teacher award and would have a 300-million-cedi house built for her as her prize.

Madam Peace Patience Abiti, 50, of Saint Francis Demonstration Junior Secondary School (JSS) at Hohoe in the Volta Region, won a Nissan saloon car worth 22,000 dollars for being the first runner-up while Ms Constance Amoh, 27, of Larbikrom Presbyterian Primary in the Eastern Region was adjudged the second runner-up and was given a Peugeot 206 saloon car worth 19,000 dollars. In all, a total of 39 teachers and non-teaching personnel, received awards during the ceremony held at the St Augustine's College Park in Cape Coast.

Nine national service personnel and three foreign volunteers were also awarded for their dedicated services, with the service personnel receiving one million cedis and the volunteers, souvenirs, citations and artefacts. The Theme for this year's ceremony was: "Quality Teachers for Quality Education: Training for an Efficient Teaching Force". Mrs Maafo on behalf of the award winners thanked all stakeholders in education for recognizing the hard work of teachers and gave the assurance that they would work harder.

Other award winners included Mr Akotoye Winnard Aseye of Akonto EP in the Volta Region, who won the first prize of a double-door fridge and television for the primary school category; while Ms Rose Adzudzor of Ablekuma Anglican in the Greater Accra Region received a fridge and television for the second prize, and Mr Cosmos Adu-Asamoah of Asuboa L/A Primary in Ashanti Region had a cooker and television set for the third prize.

In the junior secondary school category, Mr Samuel Kwaw Polly of Akontombra Anglican in the Western Region; Ms Eunice Patience Ofori of Holy Family R/C in the Eastern Region and Ms Margaret Kwakyewaa of Sankore L/A in Brong Ahafo Region won the first, second and third prizes in that order and received similar prizes as in the primary category. Teachers in other categories, such as vocational/technical, science and teacher training colleges, as well as non-teaching personnel, who had distinguished themselves, were also rewarded. Earlier, students of Holy Child, Ghana National College and Wesley Girls, had recited poetry, depicting the importance of teachers, while the cultural troupe from the Cape Coast School for the Deaf and pupils from the Philip Quaicoe Girls School, treated the gathering to traditional dances and songs.