52 teachers honoured in Tamale
A total of 52 teachers in the Savelugu Municipality, Tolon and Kumbungu districts in the Northern Region have been honoured for their hardworking and dedication to duty at the maiden edition of the Teacher Recognition and Awards held in Tamale.
13 Schools and Parents Teachers Associations (PTAs) from basic schools in the selected districts were also honoured for their outstanding performance and exemplary leadership that have affected and transformed the lives of the students in their care and the community around them.
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Organised by Right To Play (RTP), a child-centered International Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service (GES) with funding from Global Affairs Canada, the awards sought to honour teachers and schools that integrate games and playful pedagogies into lesson plans to improve on the learning outcomes of learners.
Awardees
The awardees were honoured in five categories. The categories are Best Gender Responsive Play-Based Learning teacher, best performing Gender Responsive Play-Based Learning school in each circuit, best performing PTA in each circuit, recognition and certification of teachers and best implementing partners.
The best Gender Responsive Play-Based Learning teacher and best performing Gender Responsive Play-Based Learning schools received table-top refrigerators and certificates, while winners of the other categories received citations.
Mr Yahaya Abdul Hanan, Ms Yidana Fatimah, and Ms Fiawornu Lucy Yawa received the overall best performing Gender Responsive Play- Based awards.
Other schools honoured were St Monica’s R/C primary, Tolon D/A primary school Block ‘’A’’, Tolon Model primary school, Nyankpala D/A primary school, and Kumbungu D/A primary school Block ‘’A’’, Nawarideen E/A primary school, Zugu D/A primary school and Kanfehiyili R/C primary schools.
The rest are Pong-Tamale Experimental, Moglaa M/A primary school and Tarikpaa M/A primary schools from Savelugu Municipal.
Project
Under the theme “Ghana’s New Standard Based Curriculum; the Role of Gender Responsive Play-Based Learning Methodology in Achieving Quality Education Life-long Learning”, the initiative formed part of the Gender Responsive Education and Transformation project (GREAT) being implemented by Right To Play with the ultimate goal of improving equal learning outcomes for pupils at the pre-primary and primary levels of education in five districts across the country.
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The 5-year project which is being implemented in 65 selected basic schools in the Savelugu Municipality, Tolon and Kumbungu districts sensitize teachers on how to integrate games and playful pedagogies into lesson plans to improve on the learning outcome of the pupils.
Selection criteria
Speaking at the event, the Country Program Manager of Right To Play, Mr George Ahiable said the awards was aimed at recognizing the efforts of teachers in using Play-Based Learning to teach the pupils in the project beneficiary schools.
He said Right To Play in collaboration with Municipal and District Monitoring Support Team of Ghana Education Service (GES) conducted assessment on the performance of schools and teachers with respect to the integration of play into lesson planning and delivery as well as implementation of school PTA actions plans.
The initiative, he said was in line with the New Standard Based Curriculum for pre-primary and primary education introduced by the Ministry of Education to promote quality education at the basic levels.
“The new curriculum emphasized learning-centered pedagogy, re-introduction of physical education and sports and has provisions for development of core competences and life-long skills, for the past years. Right To Play has demonstrated capacity in using play to support partners and government to achieve sustainable development goals specifically quality education and life skills development” Mr Ahiable noted.
He added that the Gender Responsive and Transformation (GREAT) project being implemented by his outfit would go a long way to support the implementation of the new curriculum introduced by the government to enable the Ghanaian child compete anywhere globally.
Commendation
He commended the GES and all partners for supporting the awards become a novelty, adding “moving forward it is our aspiration that we can integrate this program with the District Teacher Prize/Recognition events in line with broader strategies for teacher professional development and motivation”.
For her part, the Kumbungu District Director of Education, Hajia Abiba Saaka congratulated the award winners for their commitment towards enhancing quality education in the region, urging them to continue with the good work to “become mirrors to reflect a positive change in schools and society as a whole”.
Some of the award winners who spoke to the Graphic Online commended the organisers for the gesture and promised to work extra hard to promote quality education in their respective schools.