The Deputy Minister of Gender Children and Social Protection, Freda Prempeh on Friday said Ghana cannot achieve the Sustainable Development Goal Four without appreciating and recognising the contributions of teachers.

The SDGs-4 ensures that all girls and boys completed primary and secondary schooling by 2030.

It also aims to provide equal access to affordable vocational training to eliminate gender and wealth disparities and achieve universal access to quality higher education.

As Ghana joins the globe to celebrate the Fifth World Teachers Day, Mrs Prempeh emphasised the need on successive governments to appreciate the contributions of teachers and motivate them enough to do more to ensure educational growth.

World Teacher’s Day is held on October 5, every year, since 1994 to commemorate the adoption of the 1966 ILO /UNESCO recommendations on the plight of teachers, their rights and responsibilities, and standards to adhere to.

The 2019 celebration is on the theme: “Young Teachers; the Future of the Profession”. 

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mrs Prempeh, also the Member of Parliament for Tano North, called on stakeholders to support teachers and give the profession the needed recognition.

“Teacher’s contribution to society must be recognised and appreciated. They are our guardians, mentor, health attendants and everything to us in and around the classroom. They guide, support, motivate, encourage, inspire, direct, teach and spur us on,” she said.

“You play a very important role, and therefore it is in order to celebrate you to inspire young people to take teaching as a first choice profession”.

“We once again celebrate dedicated, selfless and committed teachers who continually strive to promote the teaching profession and also guide us so that our future and careers will be secured”.

Mrs Prempeh, however, warned teachers who take advantage of young and vulnerable girls and sexually abused them to desist from the act saying her Ministry would prosecute those found culpable. 

She said as the government did more to improve on educational infrastructure, teachers ought to play their part to ensure that the Free Senior High School programme facilitated and improved on education.

To improve on education in her constituency, Mrs Prempeh said she had lobbied for support to construct 12-unit classroom block and provided 600 desks, 100 bags of cement, library books and mosquito nets to the Yamfo Anglican SHS.

The Yamfo Technical and Vocational School has also received 100 bags of cement, refrigerators, computers, football and jerseys, while two toilets and borehole had been constructed for the Bomaa SHS.

She said construction works on a kitchen, assembly and dining halls for the Boakye Tromo Senior High and Technical School were virtually completed.

Two toilets had also been constructed at the Serwaa Kese SHS at Duayaw-Nkwanta, kindergarten schools at Susuanso and Tano Ano, six-unit classroom block each for the Bomaa Roman Catholic and Methodist schools, and three-unit classroom block each for Nkurakai and Sukuumu communities.

Mrs Prempeh said she had also constructed six unit classroom block at Mankranho, presented dual desks, roofing sheets, bags of cement, computers, sandals and television sets and educational materials to almost all the schools and communities in her constituency.