Two organisations implement Ghana Reads Project
World Vision Ghana in collaboration with Open Learning Exchange Ghana (OLE Ghana), is piloting a ‘Ghana Reads Project’ in two communities in the Sekyere East District in the Ashanti Region to educate primary school pupils on how to develop reading habits through the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
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According to the Education Specialist at the World Vision Ghana, Mr Andrew Ofosu-Dankyi, the decision to use ICT to teach children, especially those in rural communities, how to read, was concieved out of a research conducted in the country which indicated that only two per cent of grade two pupils in the country could read.
He said the report was contained in the Early Grade Reading Assessment Report of 2013.
ICT equipment
Under the Ghana Reads Project, the two organisations have presented ICT equipment to two schools in two communities in the district.
The beneficiary schools are the Odurokrom District Assembly Basic School and the Nyamfa Salvation Army Basic School in Okaikrom. The items donated include computer tablets, head phones, pie transmitters, printers, laptops and projectors valued at GH¢144,540
Mr Ofosu-Dankyi entreated the beneficiary communities, particularly the teachers, to take good care of the equipment to ensure that more students benefited from the initiative.
Mr Kofi Essien, the Executive Director of OLE Ghana, underscored the usefulness of reading to children in their quest to attain higher education.
He said if children who attended schools could not read, then there was no need for them to go to school.
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To support and improve on the culture of reading, he said, OLE came up with the Ghana Reads Project, which was a technology-based and cost- effective innovation.
Stories for children
More than 3,000 children’s stories digitised and stored on tablets are available under the Ghana Reads Project, which can be accessed by the pupils in the classroom.
The District Chief Executive for Sekyere East, Mr Solomon Adei Mensah, was grateful to WVG and OLE for the support, which he said would go a long way to help improve on education in the communities.
He said ICT had become very important in the 21st century and, therefore, urged the pupils to take advantage of the opportunity to improve on their reading skills and also learn the use of the ICT equipment.