Ghana’s 2023 Best Teacher, Faith Aku Dzakpasu, has been named in the top 50 shortlist for the GEMS Education Global Teach­er Prize.

Organised by Varkey Foundation in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the award is given to an exceptional teacher mak­ing significant impact on students and the community.

She was selected from over 5,000 nominations and applications from 89 countries across the world.

Now in its ninth year, the one mil­lion dollars Global Teacher Prize is the largest prize of its kind.

She made the mark following an incredible teaching philosophy which focuses on innovative and inclusive strategies tailored to meet the di­verse needs of students.

She also employs research-based methods like Layering Text, Cross Text Analysis and tools such as ChatGPT to simplify complex concepts.

Speaking to The Spectator in Accra on Monday, she explained that her classroom fosters creativity, active participation and hands-on learning, integrating digital tools like Canva and 3D modelling software.

“I have also established centres for supporting students with learn­ing disabilities and offers creative modules to help all learners succeed, regardless of their challenges,” she stated.

“Being selected for this award is a remarkable milestone in my teaching journey as I look forward to impacting on children and society at large,” she stated.

She encouraged teachers to be committed to their duty and go the extra mile to impact knowledge into children.

“We must continue to find new way to make teaching and learning more flexible and understandable,” she stressed.

“Visually engaging classroom de­signs and inclusive methods would consistently boost attendance, confi­dence and academic performance,” she explained.

On her own, Mrs Dzakpasu founded the Street School Project, bringing education to street children and the Creative Aid Agenda, which has trained over 4,200 individuals in en­trepreneurial skills like biodegradable paper bag crafting.

She also established the Mother of Many Missions orphanage project, sup­porting orphans with essentials and education. Her “Reinventing Behind Bars” initiative empowers incarcerat­ed women with self-care and reinte­gration tools.

Ms Dzakpasu, is a teacher at Doblo Gonno Methodist Basic School in the Ga West Municipal Assembly in the Greater Accra Region.

 By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu

Mr Freda Alowri, a Senior Mid­wifery Officer (SMO) at the Zorko Health Centre in the Bon­go District of the Upper East Region, has admonished expectant mothers to promptly adhere to referral orders from lower to higher health facilities to prevent complications.

She said referrals, especially from health facilities in rural areas made to higher facilities for further man­agement, should be taken seriously without delays especially in pregnant women since that could result in com­plications and possible deaths.

“Pregnant women in rural areas are usually reluctant to go on referrals to higher facilities and if there is an issue those of us in the deprived com­munities cannot handle.”

“It is not all the cases that those of us in derived areas can handle, and so if we detect such cases and refer, they should not delay, but go immedi­ately,” she said.

Ms Alowri, who has decades of work experience in the rural community, gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after she was awarded the 2024 Best Mid­wife by the District Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS).

The Directorate at its 2024 annual health performance review meeting held in Bolgatanga, recognised Ms Alowri’s “Outstanding skills and ex­pertise in the domain of maternal and neonatal care”.

The Directorate said her commit­ment to delivering high-quality care, mentorship and adherence to best practices had profoundly influenced maternal health in the district.

The midwife advised women in rural areas to immediately visit the nearest health facility if they missed their menstrual cycle and suspected pregnancy.

She said early Ante-Natal Care services in the first trimester of pregnancy was the surest way for safe delivery and insisted that “Pregnant women should try to visit the nearest health facility early for good maternal services.”

For midwives who refused postings to rural areas to work, Ms Alowri said there was much experience to gain at health facilities in rural areas, and urged midwives, especially junior staff to accept postings to any part of the district where their services were needed, and work diligently to uplift the image of the GHS.

Ms Estella Abazesi, the District Di­rector of the GHS, who presented the award to the midwife, told the GNA that staff motivation was important to the directorate as a means to urge them to deliver their best.

She said staff nominated among themselves, those they thought de­served awards, and management also considered key performance indica­tors of the various facilities for the awards.

“The indicators carried 70 per cent performance and 30 per cent for the nomination. That was what we did for both individual and for the facil­ity level,” she said, and encouraged her staff to continue to work hard to improve service delivery.

The directorate, apart from Ms Alowri, recognised and honoured nine other staff under various categories namely: Mr Mohammed Abu, Mr Mi­chael Awia Achuliwor, Madam Cynthia Lariba Apemjobey, Mr Maxwell Kamah Alagnona, Mr David Adongo, Madam Gloria Wulug, Madam Rihanna Aku­gre Awudu and Madam Agnes Aloyine Atibila.

Three Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) com­pounds; the Beo Tankoo CHPS, Kadare and Nayorigo CHPS together with the Namoo, Soe, Valley and Zorko sub-dis­trict zones were awarded.

The GHS also honoured WaterAid Ghana, a non-governmental organisa­tion, for its contributions to health­care delivery in the district. -GNA