Seventy per cent of Senior High Schools (SHS) that run the double-track system will reverse to the single-track system when the new academic year begins, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister of Education, has announced.

He said the government was putting measures in place to ensure that schools which could accommodate their students were given the needed infrastructure to reverse to the single-track system.

Dr. Adutwum was speaking at the 2024 Ghana Teacher Prize awards ceremony, organized by the National Teaching Council (NTC) under the auspices of the Ministry of Education (MOE), in Kumasi.

The theme for the occasion, “Valuing Teacher Voices: Towards a New Social Contract for Education,” provided the platform for teachers and other stakeholders to discuss ways teachers could be included in decision-making in the educational system.

About 16 teachers and non-teaching staff were awarded under four categories which included the non-teaching category, Teacher in Leadership and Administrative category, College Teacher category and the Teaching category.

Under the teaching category, awards were given to the Best Differentiated Learning Practice Teacher, Best Kindergarten School Teacher, Best Primary School Teacher, Best Junior High School Teacher, Best SHS Technical School Teacher, first and second runners-up, and the most outstanding schoolteacher.

Dr. Adutwum disclosed that construction work would soon begin in the Opoku Ware SHS to enable the school to accommodate all its students and run the single-track school system.

Again, he said the MOE in collaboration with other organisations such as the GETFund, the lead sponsor would distribute tablets to schools to enhance digitalisation in education.

Students would do their classwork and homework on the tablets as teachers marked and graded them on the tablets, he explained.

Dr. Adutwum noted that the government was investing a lot of resources into transforming the Ghanaian educational system to ensure quality education delivery at all levels.

He again revealed that the MOE had established its television station named MOE TV where educational activities would be broadcast.

Furthermore, Dr Adutwum announced the intention of the MOE to introduce Ghana Virtual High School, which would give students at the high school level the opportunity to go to school online.

He applauded teachers for their contributions towards ensuring that every child enjoyed quality education despite the few challenges they faced in their service delivery.

Rev. Isaac Owusu, the President of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) said the Ghana Teacher Prize, coincided with the World Teacher Day celebrations, which sought to acknowledge and recognize the hard work and contributions of teachers in and outside the classroom.

He noted that GNAT did not only advocate for improved service conditions for teachers but also contributed to facilitating and promoting teaching and learning at the pre-tertiary level.

“1,200 teachers drawn from the Ashanti, Eastern, and Volta Regions were given two weeks of Professional Development training from 7th-19th July 2024,” Rev. Owusu, recalled.

He commended the government for increasing teachers’ salaries by 25 per cent this year, adding that the union expected a 50 per cent salary increment next year.

On the issue of the galamasey menace, Rev. Owusu called on the government to address the negative impact small-scale mining and illegal mining had on water bodies.

He said if nothing was done about it, Ghana would lose one of its major sources of water and put the lives of citizens at risk.