Millicom Ghana Limited, operators Tigo, have offered GHS20,000to the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Charity Foundationto support this year’s Otumfuo Teachers Awards. The event to be hosted by the Asantehene, OtumfuoOsei Tutu II at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi and scheduled to take place on the 2nd of May 2014, will see teachers drawn from across the countryto be recognized and awarded for their services to the nation.
The awards scheme has been running for four years and Tigo has been a part of it through cash and kind donations during the past three editions. In addition to the cash donation towards this year’s event, Tigohas also offeredproducts such as mobile phones and Tigo airtime to be given to the awardees.
The CEO of Millicom Ghana, RoshiMotman said their decision to be part of this noble initiative to reward Ghanaian teachers is because the brand believes that well motivated teachers would ultimately result in better educated pupils and students and therefore good future leaders.
“We believe at Tigo that Ghanaian teachers all over the country have been doing their best, some of them in extremely difficult circumstances, to ensure that their pupils and students are well educated and there is the need therefore to support this noble scheme established by theAsantehene to not only recognize their efforts but also to reward them,” she said.
According to the CEO, thevision of theAsanteheneand his elders to make education a priority ties in favourably with Tigo’s own beliefs in developing the human resource needs of the country through education.
“Indeed, as part of Tigo’s educational empowerment programmes, we have sponsored and offered training programmes for young graduates from the nation’s tertiary institutions as a way of developing their skills and giving them the necessary knowledge of workings within the corporate environment,” she added.
The Otumfuo Teachers Awards scheme was instituted as part of the King’s drive to empower and motivate teachers in the country to give off their best. The Asantehene has been at the forefront of improving service quality in Ghana’s educational system through the recognition of the efforts and contributions of teachers to the development of the nation’s children.
The belief in this reward scheme, according to Ben Boaitey, a board member of the OtumfuoOsei Tutu II Charity Foundation, is borne out of the Asantehene’s belief in using education as a tool to improving lives in the country. According to him, the Asantehene believes in the pivotal role that teachers play in child development.
“Otumfuo is very passionate about educating Ghanaian children. The Asantehene recognizes that teachers possess tremendous power in shaping the lives of school children. Therefore, teachers must be constantly motivated and rewarded to be instruments of inspiration to our children”, says Ben Boaitey.
