The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Ga Central of the Greater Accra Region, Bashiru Mohammed Kamara, has urged school pupils to cultivate the habit of reading widely to become great adults in future.
The MCE stated this at the Ga Central Ghana Education Service Municipal Directorate for Basic Schools -Reading Festival for Early Grade in Ghanaian Languages and English, at Odorgonno Senior High School (SHS) in Accra yesterday.
The theme for the programme was ‘Learn to read, and read to learn ‘.
Mr Kamara said teachers in Ga Central were using innovative method to inculcate the culture of reading in pupils of the municipality, stressing that was a step in the right direction.
He further advised the school pupils to read to become teachers, doctors, traditional rulers, MCEs, and even Vice- Presidents and Presidents among others in future.
He averred that it was because of the importance of reading and learning that the state had constantly invested much resources into the education and urged parents, teachers and pupils, being the major stakeholders, to help promote reading and learning in general.
On his part, the Member of Parliament(MP) for Anya-Sowutuom, Dr Dickson Adomako Kissi, said one could not over emphasise the benefits of reading, because reading, for example of prescriptions on medicines, helped to take drugs in the right dosages to save lives.
He said reading was useful for road signs to interpret cattle crossing and other vital signs on the road.
The MP also noted that reading cuts across all sectors of human endeavour, adding that reading was the cure for illiteracy.
The Ga Central Municipal Director for Education, Madam Cynthia Winifred Aku Gbadaglo, explained that a research conducted by the USAID indicated that many pupils could not read in their local languages and in English, and so they recommended and sponsored the programme to encourage and support the pupils to learn how to read.
Many activities were staged at the reading festival including, Reading in English, Ga and Twi which are popular languages spoken in the Greater Accra Region.
Participating in the festival were, basic schools selected from Odorgonno, Ablekuma, Chantan, Anyaa, and GRETA ‘D’ Shepherd School.
The Queenmother of Anyaa, Naa Odeh Akweley and a team of royals and warriors and the Assembly member for Anyaa Electoral Area graced the programme.
BY BERNARD QUANSON