Rotary Club of Accra Labone and GEDAID Foundation donate 3,000 reading books to 13 schools in Accra

The Rotary Club of Accra Labone has donated 3,000 supplementary reading materials to 13 selected public schools within the Labone-Nima enclave in Accra as part of measures to promote reading and writing among the pupils.

The gesture, which comes under the club’s project, dubbed: “Three books per child literary project” is currently being piloted in the beneficiary schools in partnership with GEDAID Foundation.

The project, which is expected to be extended to other public schools across the country after the pilot phase in 2018 is intended to encourage children to develop positive attitude towards reading and writing.

The President of the Rotary Club, Accra Labone, Mr George Agyekum at a short ceremony held at the Kanda Cluster of Schools to present the books to the beneficiary schools, said it was worrying that many Ghanaian pupils, particularly those in public schools could not read and write.

He said reading and comprehension formed the bedrock of any academic pursuit and that children must be encouraged by both teachers and parents to develop good attitude towards reading and writing.

He said about 70 per cent of Ghanaian pupils in public schools could not read and write, and added that if such trend was not immediately reversed, it would affect the country’s efforts in achieving Goal four of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs).

Mr Agyekum, however, identified parents as one of the key factors contributing to pupils’ inability to read and write in public schools in Ghana.

According to him, many parents have failed to assist and encourage their children to learn to read and write.

He said if parents could have time for their children and also provide them with reading materials, it would go a long ways to develop their reading and writing skills.

Mr Agyekum also mentioned electronic devises as a distraction and unavailability of reading materials as some of the factors making it difficult for children to read.

Touching on why schools were selected, he explained that a need assessment was conducted in the beneficiary schools and realised that the schools needed the materials.

He said the project was targeting pupils in lower primary, that is, those in primary one to three and that all the books were Ghana Education Service (GES) approved ones.

Mr Agyekum said education was one of the key priorities of the club and would continue to introduce projects to promote quality education in Ghana.

The Executive Director of GEDAID Foundation, an education-focused foundation, Mr Emmanuel Asafo-Adjei, said a concerted effort was needed to reverse the high illiteracy and numeracy skills among pupils in public schools.

He said the purpose of the project was to ensure that at least every child reads one book per term, which would mean that by the time they complete primary six, they would have read 18 books.

Mr Asafo-Adjei, therefore, urged the teachers to complement the efforts of the two organisation in order to ensure that the purpose for which the programme was introduced was realised.

The Deputy Director in charge of Management and Supervision at the Accra Metro Education Office, Madam Esi Asigbetse, commended the club for the gesture and gave an assurance that the education directorate would ensure that the books were put into proper use.

She, therefore, charged the teachers to guide the pupils on how to handle the books well in order for them to last and benefited others.