Mr. Rexford Frimpong, the Personal Assistant to the Municipal Chief Executive of Okaikwei North Municipality in the Greater Accra Region has reiterated the need for students to cultivate the habit of reading.
According to him, reading is the bedrock of education and the foundation of knowledge.
He said learning to read is acquiring the habit of reading and that it is a practice that has to be part of our lives.
Mr. Frimpong was speaking on behalf of the Municipal Chief Executive, Hon. Boye Laryea at a day’s reading festival in the Municipality under the theme “Learn to Read, Read To Learn”.
He said it is important for pupils to develop the ability to read and understand.
He explained that more often, children just recite and read loud without understanding the import of the text they read.
“If we can get it right at the basics, if we can read and understand, then the rest is just a matter of course…” he stated.
Mr Rexford noted that the Assembly since its inception through the MCE has contributed its quota towards teaching and learning activities in the Municipality.
Mrs Cynthia Aboni, the Municipal Director of Education quoting Bharuthram, (2012), said reading is inarguably one of the most important and critical educational skills because it influences virtually all academic disciplines.
She said “reading broadens our horizon and increases the individual’s linguistic repertoire.”
Mrs Aboni indicated “as educators, it is our sacred duty to implant the skill and the act of reading into the children at their foundation stages to promote their desire for reading. In doing so, the sky will be their limit in their academic journey. It will also in a way address the often negative statement that “if you want to hide something from the Ghanaian, put it in books”.
The Education Director was optimistic the narrative will change, insisting that “This certainly will not be the trademark of the next generation. I sincerely believe that this Reading festival is a laudable step in the right direction and must be sustained.”
The pupils drawn from twelve basic schools in the Municipality treated the audience to dialogues on the need to read, poetry recitals, pick and act, spelling Bee, mother and child word formation, vocabulary development and odd one out.
In all Achimota basic school beat eleven other schools including Halid Bun Walid Islamic School, Alzakiya Islamic School, Abofu Presby, immaculate Heart of Mary among others to emerge the overall best school in the competition.
Earlier there were messages from USAID Learning, Right to Play and Mrs Theresa Lardi Awuni, the Member of Parliament for Okaikwei North Constituency who pledged to supervise the formation of Reading Clubs in all schools within the Municipality.
