Complement efforts of teachers – Parents advised

Mrs Adisa Tassa, the Ayawaso East Municipal Education Director, has urged parents and guardians to complement the efforts of teachers in promoting reading culture in children.

She said every stakeholder needed to get involved in the upbringing of learners to instill in them the love for reading to enhance their creativity.

“The act of instilling the culture of reading into children should not only be left to teachers and primary caregivers alone. There is the need for parents to also create a learning environment in their homes to promote reading among the children,” she stated.

Mrs Tassa gave the advice at the first ever reading festival for children in Basic ‘1’ to ‘3’ in Ghanaian and English languages in the Ayawaso East Municipality in Accra.

The schools which participated in the reading programme included Flagstaff House Basic, St. Kizito Roman Catholic Basic, Kanda Estate Basic and Alwaleed Comprehensive Basic schools.

The programme was initiated by the Ghana Education Service in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) – partnership for education: Learning and the Ghana Library Authority.
It was on the theme: “Learn to Read, Read to Learn.”

Mrs Tassa said children who were good readers tend to achieve better results, adding that reading promotes achievement in all subjects.

Mr Edward Addo-Yobo, the Acting Greater Accra Regional Director of the Ghana Library Authority (GLA), said studies conducted on early grade level reading of children in Ghana indicated that majority of learners at primary level perform poorly in reading.

He assigned some factors that accounted for poor reading as inadequate training of teachers in developing literacy among learners, insufficient reading materials, time on task for reading among others.

He said the mandate of the GLA was to establish, equip, manage and maintain public libraries in the country and that the vision was to connect Ghanaians to learning resources.

Hajia Salma Sani Mohammed Adams, the Municipal Chief Executive for Ayawaso East, said; “Reading enriches and expands our vocabulary and develops the skill of concentration whilst providing us with pure enjoyment and sheer pleasure.”

She urged teachers and parents to support children in their reading capabilities whilst parents invest in providing them with reading materials.
Mr. Nasser Toure Mahama, the Member of Parliament for Ayawaso East, Nima, and the guest of honour, expressed gratitude to the initiators of the programme, saying it would form a firm foundation for children to broaden their horizon as they ascend the academic ladder.

Kanda Estate Basic School emerged as the overall winners and they received a trophy while the other four schools each received a certificate of participation.
The winners will represent the municipality at the regional reading festival.