The Chief Director of the Ministry of Education Science and Sports, Ato Essuman, has noted that quality education cannot be achieved by chance. "It does not come by chance; it demands hard work, dedication, sacrifice and the will to succeed," he said. Mr. Essuman, who is also a Member of the Council of State stated this when he presented prizes to winners at a Best Teacher Awards ceremony at Sefwi Wiawso in the Western Region. The theme for the occasion was, "Quality Teacher for Quality Education: Uniting to deliver quality education". He stressed the need for knowledgeable teachers since they could not impart what they did not know to their pupils and students. “The person delivering education should be professionally trained and prepared for the work”, he said and urged pupil teachers to strive to enter Teacher Training College. Mr. Essuman noted teachers should be provided with the needed resources to enable them to deliver quality education. "Provision of education infrastructure, teaching and learning materials and adequate funding for education programmes are necessary ingredients for quality education," he said. Mr Essuman appealed to teachers to be innovative to deliver quality education through improvisation because of the limited resources at their disposal. He expressed his happiness that the government was making efforts to improve the service conditions of teachers and appealed to communities to recognise and support teachers. Ms Benedicta Naana Biney, outgoing District Director of Education, reminded teachers that "to teach is not to tell a child established facts, it is to nurture, groom, mould and guide the child into knowing something or values that can enrich him or her for life". "This is our duty and we need to live up to expectation; always remembering that issues about children are issues about the future of the district and the nation as a whole". Ms Naana Biney, who is now a Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), commended the award winners and urged them to impart the qualities that enabled them to win the awards to their colleagues. Prosper Kwasi Dogbe, Sefwi Wiawso District Secretary of the Ghana National Association teachers (GNAT), noted that even though teachers were working under difficult conditions, they should "die a little" for the children they were teaching. A total of 21 teachers, five non-teaching personnel and two schools were honoured for 2004, 2005 and 2006. Incentive packages were given to 26 teachers stationed in deprived communities. Source: GNA