Dr Mrs Evelyn Owusu Oduro, the Executive Secretary of the National Teaching Council (NTC), has said with the coming into force of teacher licensing, persons not registered by the Council would not be able to teach in public or private schools in the country.

She said given the dynamic nature of education and the development of knowledge, teachers needed to access continuous professional courses to ensure that they were always on the cutting edge of professional knowledge in their respective disciplines ready and able to successfully respond to the needs of all learners.

Dr Mrs Owusu Oduro made the remark at the 2nd Municipal Teacher/Worker Prize of the Education Directorate of the La-Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly held at Labone in Accra and it was on the theme: “Qualified Teachers, our Collective Responsibility to Quality Education.”

She said the introduction of teacher license and continuous professional development were key policies being pursued by the government through the NTC, which was aimed at improving the professional standing and status of teachers in the country.

Dr Mrs Owusu Oduro said the government, through the Ministry of Education, has the responsibility to empower the Ghanaian teacher to stand out tall among teachers all over the world to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education to improve life-long learning opportunities for all as stated in the Millennium Development Goal ‘4’.

“It is incumbent on all of us to take collective responsibility to ensure that we have qualified teachers in our educational institutions for quality education in our country,” she added.

The Executive Secretary urged all and sundry to embrace the teacher licensing and the continuous professional development being pursued by the NTC and ensure that teachers avail themselves for the opportunities available under the scheme to improve on their professional standing.

Dr Mrs Owusu Oduro commended the government for giving the issue its utmost priority, adding that this year has seen a great transformation in teacher education in Ghana with all colleges of education beginning degree programme.

“It is believed that improving the quality of a teacher, tremendously improves the quality of students learning,” she said.

She reminded the metropolitan, district and municipal assemblies of their responsibility to ensure that they identify hard-working teachers in their respective areas and reward them accordingly.

Mrs Bernice A. Addae, the La-Dadekotopon Municipal Director of Education, said the teacher prize programme was a wakeup call for all teachers and workers to do more in the performances of their work.

Nii Adjei Koofeh IV, the La Shikitele, congratulated the awardees and urged them not to rest on their oars, but should continue to render dedicated service to uplift education in the municipality.

He called on teachers to adopt modern technological teaching trends to avoid being left behind in the performance of their work.

Miss Victoria Khartey, a teacher at the Association Community International School, at Labone was adjudged the best teacher and received a deep-freezer and two nights stay at the Labadi Beach Hotel as her award.