The Best Teacher in Ghana
on Anthony Lovat in Bolgatanga (Ghana), 11/Oct/2010 12:25, 34 days ago
It is said in Ghana that a teacher’s reward will come in heaven. Certainly, there are few material incentives to work hard within the profession and progress in a teaching career. National Teachers’ Day was therefore introduced in 1995 in an effort to raise the profile of teaching and to recognise and reward those individuals who excel in their work. Teachers are nominated by their heads and, through a series of interviews, national winners are selected. It is interesting to note that lesson observations within the classroom context play no part in the selection criteria.I was amazed at how big the occasion was. Jackson Park in Koforidua, Eastern Region, is a vast open space that was filled with rows of chairs under canopies and a grand stage. Shiny big 4x4s were parked around the perimeter and smart brass bands marched between them, testing their instruments. As the morning progressed, sassy TV camera operators set up their equipment, one on top of a high central platform. The chairs filled with eager people. Photographers snapped along the rows, enthusiastically offering deals on prints.I was sat with the award winners– eighty four in total. I had been told over the phone just three days before that I had been selected as the winner of the ‘best foreign volunteer working in education’ category for VSO. The casual and late way in which I was selected led me to believe that this was a low key event. I’d packed black shoes, dark jeans and a checked shirt but, as I stood with the other award winners, all dressed in suits and ties, I knew I’d underestimated Teachers’ Day and definitely misjudged the dress code.The dignitaries arrived in reverse order of importance: amongst others, all the regional directors for education, the acting director for GES, the regional minister, the world director for Peace Corps (who looked suspiciously like Barak Obama), the education minister and, finally, accompanied by a flotilla of bodyguards, the vice president. Proceedings could begin.The excitement and anticipation amongst the award winners filled the air with nervous energy– they knew they’d won something but they didn’t know what. The prizes, sponsored by a mobile phone company, read like a game show: laptops, fridges, gas cookers, ghetto blasters, saloon cars, pick-up trucks and, for the top prize, 60,000GHc to build a new house. We patiently endured the welcomes, addresses and speeches before the prize giving commenced.As the foreign volunteer category winner, I was brought before the TV cameras and, as I tried to smile and relax under the gaze of the nation, an embarrassingly long and glowing citation was read, detailing my work. I was presented with some cheap and cheerful“native artefacts” along with a certificate, signed by the president himself, and a laminated copy of the citation. The TV cameras swung around to my grinning face, the newspaper cameras clicked and, just as I was beginning to enjoy the feeling of celebrity, I was ushered back to my seat.Before long, my phone started ringing. The entire ceremony was being broadcast live on national television and I never realised so many people watch TV on a Tuesday afternoon. I later found out that there had been a power failure across Bolga and that my award was presented just after the lights came back on.The first prize winner, a JHS teacher from Ashanti Region, dropped to his knees and threw his arms to the sky when his name was read out. 60,000GHc is a life-changing amount of money.Teachers’ Day cost a fortune to stage. It raised the profile of teaching for the day and rewarded the efforts of eighty four individuals but, looking around at the glossy programmes, invited VIPs, sponsored prizes and bloated organising committee, I couldn’t help wonder if this was all an effective useof funds. The teachers themselves enjoyed the short stay in the posh hotel but, chatting with them throughout the three days, there were murmurings of discontent. Low pay, lack of infrastructure, unwillingness to work in the north and an unrealistic syllabus still cripple the educational system. Bigevents like this raise the profile of politicians and mobile phone companies as much as teachers.Not that I’m ungrateful, of course! It was an honour and a privilege to be selected for the award. The theme of the event stated that, ‘recovery begins with teachers’. Maybe, we can hope, the recovery of the teaching profession begins with Teachers’ Day?