Accra, July 26, GNA – The La-Dadekotopon Municipal Education Directorate has held its maiden Reading Festival 2022 with a call on teachers to come up with innovative practices to boost the reading interest and habits of children.

Parents were also urged to provide the children with relevant learning materials and a congenial environment to facilitate their learning at home.

The programme, which was organised together with the La-Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly in Accra, was on the theme: “Learn to Read, Read to Learn.”

The event was held for six basic one to three circuits, including Adobetor, Adjetey, Airport Rangoon, Arakan, Emmaus and Manledada and the rationale was to revive and boost the reading culture of children for them to gain knowledge and understanding in all subjects.

Participating schools competed in fast reading, pick and read, and mother and child.

Dr John Annang, a Technical Advisor to T-TEL Learning Assessment, the guest speaker, called on parents to cultivate the habit of reading together with their children.

He urged community leaders and educational authorities to also provide learning resources such as libraries and reading materials to enable children have access to them, adding that by age 10 every Ghanaian child should be able to read.

Mr Annang advised educational heads and teachers to devise innovative ways to help children acquire and improve their reading habits and that reading is indispensable to the future of children.

“We all have a part to play to incorporate some reading activity in the learning of children at all times to promote their academic wellbeing,” he said.

He entreated teachers to monitor the reading progress of children in class two, four, six and in the Junior High School to ensure they have a full grasp of the reading habit.

Mrs Habiba Kotoma, the La-Dadekotopon Municipal Education Director, in a welcome address, noted that students of today had developed intense interest in television watching and social media activities rather than reading.

She said this had attracted the attention of various education watchers and partners like USAID learning which saw the need to support the Ghana Education Service in organising early reading programmes since 2014 with the latest being Transition to English Plus (T2E plus).

Mrs Kotoma said it was the aim of USAID learning to inculcate the habit of reading that the period of May 2022 was marked with district, municipal and regional reading festivals.

She said the directorate together with the assembly had adopted the festival as a yearly event with activities lined up, including fun reading in Ga, Twi and English.

Reverend Solomon Nikoi Quartey, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), said parents had a key role to play in the academic upbringing of their children and that “It is sad to note that some parents have totally neglected the upbringing of their children which continues to have a toll on their children’s education.”

The internet and smart phones, he said, had caught and overshadowed the interest of children in reading, adding that the programme would address that challenge over time.

Rev Quartey said though the internet played a key role in the learning of children, it should not be completely used as a substitute for their books and urged parents to keenly monitor their children, so they do not watch anything on television.

“Parents should have a keen interest in the moral upbringing of their children to better mold them to become assets to society and the nation at large,” he stated

The MCE said the assembly had not relented in its effort to improve education in the municipality and would continue to support such laudable initiatives to sustain the good performance of students in both the Basic Education Certificate Examination and the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination.

He congratulated the education directorate and the teaching staff of schools in the municipality for the commendable initiative, which had brought a turnaround to the academic fortunes of students and learners.

Award winners included all the participating in a pecking order of Adobetor, Airport Rangoon, Arakan, Adjetey, Manledada and Emmaus.

They received educational materials and packets of Indomie.

GNA

Accra, July 26, GNA – The La-Dadekotopon Municipal Education Directorate has held its maiden Reading Festival 2022 with a call on teachers to come up with innovative practices to boost the reading interest and habits of children.

Parents were also urged to provide the children with relevant learning materials and a congenial environment to facilitate their learning at home.

The programme, which was organised together with the La-Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly in Accra, was on the theme: “Learn to Read, Read to Learn.”

The event was held for six basic one to three circuits, including Adobetor, Adjetey, Airport Rangoon, Arakan, Emmaus and Manledada and the rationale was to revive and boost the reading culture of children for them to gain knowledge and understanding in all subjects.

Participating schools competed in fast reading, pick and read, and mother and child.

Dr John Annang, a Technical Advisor to T-TEL Learning Assessment, the guest speaker, called on parents to cultivate the habit of reading together with their children.

He urged community leaders and educational authorities to also provide learning resources such as libraries and reading materials to enable children have access to them, adding that by age 10 every Ghanaian child should be able to read.

Mr Annang advised educational heads and teachers to devise innovative ways to help children acquire and improve their reading habits and that reading is indispensable to the future of children.

“We all have a part to play to incorporate some reading activity in the learning of children at all times to promote their academic wellbeing,” he said.

He entreated teachers to monitor the reading progress of children in class two, four, six and in the Junior High School to ensure they have a full grasp of the reading habit.

Mrs Habiba Kotoma, the La-Dadekotopon Municipal Education Director, in a welcome address, noted that students of today had developed intense interest in television watching and social media activities rather than reading.

She said this had attracted the attention of various education watchers and partners like USAID learning which saw the need to support the Ghana Education Service in organising early reading programmes since 2014 with the latest being Transition to English Plus (T2E plus).

Mrs Kotoma said it was the aim of USAID learning to inculcate the habit of reading that the period of May 2022 was marked with district, municipal and regional reading festivals.

She said the directorate together with the assembly had adopted the festival as a yearly event with activities lined up, including fun reading in Ga, Twi and English.

Reverend Solomon Nikoi Quartey, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), said parents had a key role to play in the academic upbringing of their children and that “It is sad to note that some parents have totally neglected the upbringing of their children which continues to have a toll on their children’s education.”

The internet and smart phones, he said, had caught and overshadowed the interest of children in reading, adding that the programme would address that challenge over time.

Rev Quartey said though the internet played a key role in the learning of children, it should not be completely used as a substitute for their books and urged parents to keenly monitor their children, so they do not watch anything on television.

“Parents should have a keen interest in the moral upbringing of their children to better mold them to become assets to society and the nation at large,” he stated

The MCE said the assembly had not relented in its effort to improve education in the municipality and would continue to support such laudable initiatives to sustain the good performance of students in both the Basic Education Certificate Examination and the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination.

He congratulated the education directorate and the teaching staff of schools in the municipality for the commendable initiative, which had brought a turnaround to the academic fortunes of students and learners.

Award winners included all the participating in a pecking order of Adobetor, Airport Rangoon, Arakan, Adjetey, Manledada and Emmaus.

They received educational materials and packets of Indomie.

GNA