Teachers “Jealous” 2022 Ghana Teacher Prize Winner, Question Her Success On Social Media

A cross-section of teachers in Ghana is not excited with the results of the 2022 Ghana Teacher Prize as they have taken to social media to question how the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, The National Teaching Council, and other stakeholders arrived at the winner.

Arguments and comments left on Ghana Education News’ publication ” 2022 overall best teacher awarded 3-bedroom house worth GHC300,000 point to the fact that many of the commentators are not convinced that teachers in the cities and towns deserve to be winning such an award.

The educators are of the view, that there are teachers who work so hard in the hinterland, in deprived communities yet no one sees their hard work, sacrifices, and toil. In the end, they risk their lives only to be ignored when it comes to such competitions and awards for those who deserve the recognition and the big prizes given.

Some have described the award and other similar recognitions in Ghana as scams. “What criteria are used to determine the best teacher in Ghana? Any award in Ghana is a scam.” Seidu Achana

Some teachers argued that there are colleagues in the hinterlands who single-handedly teach all subjects throughout the schools they have been posted to yet no one sees their hard work.  Even teachers who swim to school do not win anything, yet those in cities are always awarded, another commentator said. This reminds us of   Mensah Kwame,  the headteacher who swims to school.

The question “How did they know she is the best teacher” posted by Lucky Manuel Nart on the issue indicates that some educators are not well-informed about the criteria for determining the winners of the Ghana Teacher Prize and much education needs to be done.