Ho, Oct 5, GNA - Ms Irene Essel, 35, a Catering Teacher at Abeka Motorway "One" Junior High School (JHS) in the Greater Accra Region, is the 2009 Overall National Best Teacher.

She took home, a cheque of 60,000 Ghana Cedis, which she is expected to use in building her own house, a computer each for herself and her school and would she would sponsored to undertake a post graduate course at any university of her choice.

Ms Essel was the toast of dignitaries, guests and the public at the 15th National Best Teacher Award and World Teacher's Day celebrated on the theme "Build the Future, Invest in the Teacher" at the Jubilee Park in Ho on Monday.

Mr Saaka Aminu 31, of the Larabanga D/A Primary School in the Northern Region, the first runner-up, got a four-wheel Nissan Pickup, donated by MTN Foundation, and a set of computers for himself and his school while Reynolds Quansah Justice, 50, of Obrakyere Senior High School in the Central Region, was the second runner-up, winning a saloon car and computers for himself and the school.

A total of 82 awards were given, including 30 for retired teachers from the Volta Region, 10 excellent National Service Persons, three foreign volunteer teachers and 30 retired teachers. Vice-President John Dramani Mahama, who stood in for President Mills, called for the reversion of the trend whereby students and pupils from endowed schools perform better than those from schools in the rural areas.

He said this trend was unlike what happened in the past when chances of students to pass examinations were equal regardless of where one attended school.

Vice President Mahama, who interjected comments while reading President's Mills' speech, said this brought into question whether performance was hinged only on remunerations and that there was need for "putting heads together" to stop the decline of the country's education. "Having good teachers over a considerable number of years could eliminate the achievement gap between the deprived rural schools and urban schools," the Vice President said.

He observed that the intervention of some communities in various ways to stem the downward trend in educational performance had raised standards in some areas.

The Vice President lauded the 17 corporate organizations and persons who sponsored the Day.

Mr Mahama lauded the awards scheme, which was instituted in 1995, to improve skills of teachers and also brought innovation and creativity into the teaching and learning processes in the country. He said good teachers made a difference and therefore the teachers deserved "quality attention by the government".

Speaking on the complaints about teachers' inability to obtain study leave, Mr Mahama urged teachers "to take advantage of distance education as convenient alternative of upgrading their skills since it was one of government's motivational packages for teachers. He said government would "initiate action this academic year to implement teacher allowances proposed in the NDC Manifesto and also hoped that proposed Single Spine Salary Structure to be implemented next year would address the problem of the relative poor wages of teachers. Vice President Mahama said government had tasked the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, and the Ministry of Finance Economic Planning to ensure that the ritual of teachers staying long before being paid after posting did not happen to the current 12, 419 newly posted teachers from colleges of education and the tertiary institutions. Mr Joseph Kwaku Adjei, National President of the Ghana National Association of Teachers, said that the new pension scheme should bring some respite to teachers.

Mr Adjei who presented some educational materials to some needy pupils, called for a quick review of the "ridiculously low" responsibility allowances paid to teachers.