This year’s Ghana Teacher Prize event was yesterday launched by the National Teaching Council (NTC) in Accra.
The event to be held under the theme: ‘Empowering Teachers, Architects of the Future,’ will see outstanding teachers at the pre-tertiary level across the country honoured and rewarded for their dedication, innovation, professionalism and contribution to improving education.
In a speech read on behalf of the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu by the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Linda Akweley Obengwaa Ocloo at the launch, he reaffirmed government’s commitment to improving the welfare, professional development and working conditions of teachers, describing them as the architects of Ghana’s future.
He said no education reform or forward-looking curriculum could succeed without well-trained, motivated and adequately supported teachers.
Mr Iddrisu said government had placed more than 30,000 diploma-to-degree teachers on the appropriate salary scale, while efforts were underway to finalise a 20 per cent rural housing allowance for teachers serving in deprived communities.
He said government had also reduced the waiting period for study leave payments for teachers who self-posted to deprived areas from four years to three years.
Through the Teacher Accommodation Initiative, he said, government was working to provide decent accommodation for teachers in rural and deprived communities.
Mr Iddrisu said GH¢33.3 billion had been allocated to education in the 2026 Budget, with resources earmarked for the construction of 200 junior high schools, 200 primary schools and 200 kindergartens, as well as 400 teachers’ accommodation facilities.
He said although more work remained to be done, particularly regarding conditions of service, government would continue to engage organised labour to address outstanding concerns.
The Minister said the Ghana Teacher Prize was an important component of the broader efforts to recognise and motivate teachers, adding that appreciation and dignity were as important to teachers’ motivation as remuneration and resources.
The President of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Prosper Tekyi, used the occasion to appeal to authorities to expedite the placement of teachers who had successfully passed their promotion aptitude tests on the appropriate salary scales.
He said teachers wrote the promotion examination in December 2025, with the results released around May this year, but many were still awaiting their placement.
Mr Tekyi described the delay as demotivating and urged the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service and Controller and Accountant-General’s Department to work together to resolve the matter.
For his part, the Board Chairman of the NTC, Kwame Alorvi, said the Ghana Teacher Prize had grown into one of the most cherished events on the national education calendar.
He said the annual launch was intended to create awareness about International Teachers’ Day, raise funds for the awards and showcase the achievements of outstanding teachers.
Mr Alorvi expressed appreciation to sponsors and partners for their continued support and urged government, the private sector and the general public to sustain their investment in the initiative.
He assured that the NTC would ensure a transparent, credible and rigorous process to identify and reward deserving teachers under the 2026 Ghana Teacher Prize.
BY CLIFF EKUFUL
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