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Mr. Mahmud Khalid, the Upper West Regional Minister, has said challenges such as the quota system for study leave, the inadequate teaching and learning materials as well as low ICT literacy among teachers were militating against teachers in the discharge of their duties. He said government appreciated the efforts of teachers and would therefore do all that it could to address challenges facing the education sector. Mr. Khalid was addressing members of the Upper West Regional Branch of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) at its 3rd Quadrennial Regional Delegates Conference in Wa. He said teachers played an invaluable role in laying the foundation and shaping the human resource of the nation. Mr. Khalid said the government would from next financial year grant a special rural allowance of an additional 20 percent of salaries to teachers who would accept postings to deprived rural communities. He said government had committed 600,000 Ghana cedis to this year�s National Best Teacher Awards. Government was also making efforts to absorb the full cost of tuition fees of teachers who would enrol under the Distance Education Programme to help address the challenges associated with the quota system and make teachers to stay in the classrooms and upgrade themselves academically. Mr. Khalid said 11 million Ghana Cedis had been allocated for the provision of two pairs of school uniforms for school children in selected deprived districts and 13 million Ghana Cedis for the National School Feeding Programme. Mr. Khalid commended teachers for their sense of maturity and patience, especially with regards to matters relating to the Single Spine Salary Structure and the National Pension Scheme.