By Dennis Peprah
Sunyani, May 13, GNA- Ms Salomey Kwabea Agyei, a a-37-year-old female teacher of the Kofiko M/A Junior High School in the Jaman North Municipality has spotlighted the Bono Region in the international scene in an attempt to break World Longest Reading Marathon Record.
Checks reveal Rysbai Isakov, a Turkish, currently, has the Longest Reading Marathon Record of 124 hours in the Guinness Book of Records, an achievement he made in September 2022. However, Ms Agyei, an English Teacher, says she had successfully passed through the requirements and was approved to undergo a seven-day reading of 168 hours to break the record, which would be held at the premises of the Bono Regional Library in Sunyani.
The “Salomey-Read-a-thon Project,” she said, was not inspired by fantastic inclination, but rather globally stimulated to position Ghana towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Thus, the project focuses on SDG goals; 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 and 17 of No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Quality Education, Gender Equality, Decent Work and Economic Growth and Partnership for the Goals, respectively.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani on the sidelines of the launch of the reading programme, Ms Agyei said she was optimistic to break the record and make the country proud.
“In fact, this project is born out of a great desire I have developed in the past years to advance teaching and learning, with emphasis on reading as a tool for courage to enhance children’s interest in learning,” Ms Agyei stated.
“It’s also centred on women empowerment, and I will be reading books authored by predominantly women as motivation to my fellow women and girls to rise to any height they can possibly reach”.
“As a trained teacher, who has taught in villages, I have seen that reading has always been the main catalyst that boosts pupils’ interest in learning. However, due to the financial distress faced by most parents, it is very difficult for them to buy reading books for their children,” she said.
Ms Agyei indicated as the world advanced through Information Technology, there was the need to ensure children regardless of their backgrounds access computers and other smart gadgets to position them properly for the technological age.
The reading programme, she added, was also in line with a project she was implementing to help build Community Libraries and ICT centres, not only in the Bono Region but deprived communities nationwide.
Dubbed: “Readspell Literacy Foundation,” the implementation of the project, Ms Agyei explained, would collaborate with the Ghana Library Authority (GLA) to inculcate reading habits into children through numerous reading-related activities and advocacies.
She called for support from multi-national and mining firms, philanthropists, NGOs, United Nations-based agencies, and organizations as well as religious and corporate bodies to support the project.
Mr John Kwame Gasu, the Jaman North Municipal Director of Education noted proficiency in reading correlated with academic success across all subjects and laid a strong foundation for future learning achievements.
Reading enhances vocabulary, and comprehension skills, aids effective communication in both English and local languages, as well as stimulates creativity and imagination thereby transporting children to new worlds and inspiring them to think creatively and innovatively.
Mr Gasu therefore called for support from everybody to help Ms Agyei achieve her vision for the Kofiko community, Jaman North Municipality, the Bono Region, and the nation by extension.
Checks by the GNA revealed the idea of the Book of Records began in the early 1950s when Sir Hugh Breaver (1890-1967), the then Managing Director of Guinness Brewery attended a shooting party in county Wexford.
Breaver and his hosts argued about the fastest game bird in Europe but failed to find an answer in any reference material, and that led to the establishment of the Guinness Book of Records to keep records and achievements of individuals and groups of people.
Since then, various individuals have attempted, and some succeeded in breaking and setting new records.
GNA