Kadjebi (O/R), Aug 11, GNA-Biakoye District has emerged best in the 2022 Oti Regional Reading Festival, after beating seven other districts.
The event which was held at the Kadjebi-Asato Senior High School (KASEC), Kadjebi in the Oti Region, saw Nkwanta-South and Jasikan districts securing the second and the third places with Nkwanta-North coming fourth.
Kadjebi, Krachi-East, Krachi-West and Krachi-Nchumuru Districts were eliminated at the first stage of the competition.
The event organised by the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service (GES) and USAID-Learning will see the first three districts representing the Region at the national level l scheduled for September, this year.
Nana Kugbeadzor Bakateyi II, Oti Regional Director of Education, speaking at the event said the competition aimed at encouraging pupils in Basic 1 to 3 Learners to read and develop an interest in reading through various fun activities and exciting ways to improve learning outcomes for schools.
She said it also seeks to emphasis the call for parents/caregivers and other education actors to support young learners and their schools with provision of reading materials and other supportive mechanism to help boost interest in reading among the pupils.
The Regional Director said the only magic to attaining high language proficiency is acquiring reading skills, but unfortunately, some learners at basic and senior high school levels are not able to read and comprehend.
Nana Bakateyi said language is the most important tool human beings possess and reading is one of the most fulfilling and effective means to master this tool.
She said reading promotes brain development and imagination, develops language and emotions, strengthens relationships and improves writing skills among others.
The Regional Director said USAID has since 2014 supported Ministry of Education, GES and affiliated institutions to improve reading performance for pupils in public primary schools.
She said while Ghana has made significant progress over the past few decades in getting its children to school, majority of young learners today struggle with even basic reading skills.
“According to the 2015 national Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA), at least half of school children in the country were unable to read a single word by the end of P2 and only 2 per cent were able to read grade-appropriate text with fluency and comprehension regardless of language”, she quoted.
Mr. Joshua Gmayenaam Makubu, the Oti Regional Minster says in a speech read on his behalf by Alhaji Mahamudu A. Azanko, the Oti Regional Co-ordinating Director,said the importance of cultivating the habit of reading could not be overemphasised.
He said so far as knowledge remains power, reading may well be the gateway to power it adding that , reading helps discover new ideas, increase knowledge and uncover myths, reduce stress among others.
He said education remains one of the key areas dear to the government that was why policies such as TVET, STEM, free Senior High School, among others were rolled out to make quality education accessible to all children of school going age.
Mr. Yao Gomado, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Akan, said reading builds vocabulary and understanding as it opens up people’s minds.
He said as people read, they listen to and understand what they read and tried to create meaning out of it.
Mr. Gomado said reading boosts one’s memory, enhances ability to focus, improves vocabulary and communication skills and allows one to see the world from the eyes of the writer.
The Legislator said the aforementioned benefits and other factors that make education quality is what he wanted to achieve as MP for the area.
The first, second, third and fourth placed participating districts were presented with reading materials.
The event was held under the theme: “Learn to Read, Read to learn”.
Source: Ghana News Agency
