Junior Graphic essay workshops held in Kumasi, Techiman
The 2025 Junior Graphic National Essay Competition (JGNEC) workshops, aimed at sharpening the reading and writing skills of learners across the country, have been organised in the Ashanti and Bono East regions.
Held in Kumasi and Techiman respectively, it gave over 500 schoolchildren the opportunity to learn about common spelling mistakes as well as punctuation and grammatical errors they commit when writing essays.
The events, which were sponsored by FirstBank Ghana, Papaye Foods and Peeva Beverages, were also aimed to help children to write compelling essays to be able to participate in the JGNEC.
The learners were schooled on how to write good essays, debates, reports and speeches.
At the seminar, the Ashanti, Bono, Ahafo and Northern Zonal Business Manager of the Graphic Communications Group Ltd (GCGL), Benjamin Korsinah Tsatsu, encouraged pupils and students to participate in the competition and strive for the ultimate prize.
He encouraged them to take cues from the seminar to improve their vocabulary, to help them have a good command of the English language.
“See this opportunity as a stepping stone to more achievements in the future. Once you take the lessons seriously, it will serve as a solid foundation for a better future.
The Junior Graphic will continue to introduce educational events to help you excel,” he noted.
Contest
Mr Tsatsu explained that the competition was in two phases, namely the preliminary and final stages.
He noted that at the preliminary stage, participants would write their essays in the comfort of their homes and submit them.
Mr Tsatsu said that out of that number, 50 students would be shortlisted to take the final test, which would be supervised by officials of the GCGL in the various regions.
He indicated that the questions of the competition in the preliminary stage had been published in the Junior Graphic for interested students to answer and submit their entries through the company’s offices in the regions.
Mr Tsatsu, therefore, advised parents and teachers to ensure that participants do independent work, adding that they would not be there during the final competition to support them.
He said the seminar was to help them build their confidence in essay writing and public speaking.
Appeal
The Head of Languages at Techiman Senior High School, Isaac Kwaku Frimpong, who took the students through the structure of different kinds of essays, appealed to English teachers to make the teaching of the subject practical to help students develop an interest in reading.
He also urged them to find innovative ways of teaching and correcting students and pupils so they could master the English language.
Mr Frimpong called for regular organisations of such seminars, particularly for final-year students, to help improve their writing skills, encouraging students to cultivate the habit of reading irrespective of their field of study to gain more exposure.
Mr Frimpong commended the GCGL for organising the seminar every year to enhance pupils' and students' reading and writing skills.
Students’ views
Some of the pupils and students who spoke to the Junior Graphic said the seminar was very useful, as they had learnt about the different ways of writing essays.
They said they had previously been using a one-way approach in the introduction of their essays, adding that the seminar had helped them to learn different ways of introducing their essays to appeal to readers.
They expressed interest in participating in the JGNEC and promised to strive for the ultimate prize.
