Wow! QUIPS has made it for me

I have every reason to be full of joy, for Quality Improvements in Primary Schools (QUIPS) has really made me great. Since 1997, I have been teaching at Tampion English/Arabic primary school in Ghana’s Northern region. Never did I dream that I would ever receive a “Best Teacher” award - not even at the district, let alone the national level.

But QUIPS has shaped my vision about quality teaching since its introduction. I have benefited immensely from the training programs organized for teachers. I got a deeper insight into writing comprehensive daily lesson plans. Also, through the demonstration lessons given by the trainers, I got to know how to make introductions lively, linking them to pupils’ relevant previous knowledge. I further learnt to use adequate and relevant teaching and learning materials for all my lessons to enhance both teaching and learning. It was not an easy task. Initially, I found all these very demanding.I thought that QUIPS had brought my colleagues and I more responsibilities. But I was mistaken. Little did I know that I was being prepared for a rewarding career. It really paid off when my pupils started showing immense interest and participated actively in my lessons. This encouraged me. My circuit supervisor also motivated me and I never gave up.

Eventually, my supervisor was so impressed with my work that he nominated me for the district ‘Best Teacher’ award. I got through the interview successfully and proceeded to the regional and national levels. I took my lesson note-book along for all the interviews. In Accra, the national capital city, I had to teach a 30-minutes lesson in Mathematics to a primary 6 class. The lesson was on ratio. This was an opportunity for me to exhibit the vast knowledge, experiences and skills I had acquired from the QUIPS project.

I prepared and used appropriate, adequate and attractive teaching and learning materials and also employed a variety of methods that helped the pupils to learn from each other. I also put to effective use my favourite reward, ‘shine’, a special way of clapping. The lesson went very well. But I was not even prepared for what was to come. To my surprise, I was invited by Ghana’s Best Teacher Award Committee to receive an award in Kumasi, the second largest city, for the 3rd Best Teacher in the primary school category in 2003. What a great event! This was beyond my wildest dream! The first teacher from Savelugu-Nanton District to receive a national award!

This achievement I owe mainly to QUIPS for sharpening my professional skills, and all those who encouraged me to work harder. QUIPS has made me great and I say “Thanks a million”.

QUIPS is a USAID initiative to provide Ghanaian children quality basic education

Story and Photos by Zakaria Mumin, Best Teacher Award Winner