The Ejura-Sekyedumase Municipal Assembly, in collaboration with the Ejura-Sekyedumase Municipal Directorate of Education has recognised selfless and dedicated teachers in the municipality.

Last Thursday, teachers and deserving students were honoured with various prizes, including television sets, for their dedication to the teaching and learning process in the district, at a reactivated Teachers Awards. Teaching and non-teaching staff and schools which excelled in academic performance were not left out.

Mr. Isaac Dwumaa, a teacher of the Ejura Municipal Brigade Junior High School (JHS), was adjudged the Best Mathematics Teacher, while the school which excelled in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) went to Yaodin Junior High School.

The Most Regular Teacher Award went to Mr. Prince Adu Poku of Sekyedumase R/C Junior High School, followed by Miss Ernestina Boamah, with Daniel Osei Owusu of Ejura Methodist Primary emerging the number one regular student. The Municipal Chief Executive Officer (MCE), Alhaji Muhammed Bawa Braimah, applauded the teachers in the Municipality for their dedication to work.

Alhaji Bawa stated that education is the key to the socio-economic advancement and development of any country, and urged teachers to adopt alternative strategies in the face of inadequate resources to help resuscitate our educational system from the verge of collapse.

The MCE stated that for a teacher to be effective, he must make qualitative and efficient use of the resources available, and develop character traits, to serve as a role model for the children they teach. MCE Bawa gave the assurance that his administration had put measures in place to resource and motivate teachers in the Municipality, and cautioned teachers against intolerable behaviours such as lateness, absenteeism, non-professional use of contact hours, alcoholism, and partisan politics during school hours.

Alhaji Bawa disclosed that the Assembly had acquired 100 bicycles to be given to students who walk to and from school from distances to facilitate their movement, and called on philanthropists and stakeholders to come to their aid with the provision of bicycles and other aids to students.

The Municipal Education Director, Mr. Joseph Kwame Appiah, stated that despite the numerous challenges the Municipal is reeling under, the authorities could draw a long list of high quality teachers in the Municipality.

He said the occasion should also remind parents, stakeholders, and the general public of their crucial role to effectively collaborate with teachers in the proper upbringing of the future leaders of the nation. According to him, the Municipal Directorate of Education was concerned about the improvement of quality in education, hence the identification of teacher motivation as the central pin in its support to education in the Municipality.

Director Appiah stressed that lack of respect for, and appreciation for the work of teachers in several communities, account for the general malaise in the teaching profession.

He, however, bemoaned the low class attendance on Mondays at Ejura and the surrounding communities, because Mondays are observed as local market days in the Municipality.