The Ghana Education Service (GES) has announced that a ‘reading hour’ will be added to the education curriculum of all schools beginning this 2014\/2015 academic year.<\/p>\n
The Acting Director of the GES, Charles Aheto Tsegah told Citi News<\/strong>, the addition has become necessary due to the falling standards of education in the country; a situation he attributed to the bad reading habits of children.<\/p>\n He made this known at the grand finale of the Citi FM\u2019s<\/strong> 2014 Write Away Contest<\/em> <\/strong>where Marilyn Nana Yaa Gyan of Falsyd Foundation School emerged winner.<\/p>\n There is growing pressure on the managers of Ghana\u2019s education system to solve the serious challenges facing the sector.<\/p>\n An \u201cEarly Grade Reading Assessment\u201d conducted by the GES has revealed that\u00a098% of primary two pupils could neither read nor understand English.<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Over 7,000 candidates<\/strong> <\/span><\/a>who sat for the 2014 West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), failed in all subjects.<\/p>\n The country\u2019s education at all levels is said to be below international standards<\/strong> <\/span><\/a>by the World Economic Forum (WEF).<\/p>\n The Education Ministry has assured parents that it is doing its possible best to solve the challenges.<\/p>\n In an interview with Citi News<\/strong>, Mr Tsegah mentioned that the Education Ministry will convey a meeting for all Directors of Education to enable them draw up a road-map to ensure reading becomes number one priority in schools.<\/p>\n \u201cThey [Directors of Education] will be made to create slots in their timetables for silent reading so this academic year, we will start doing that in all public basic schools and in all private schools,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”DIvFmmVWcAb6voKYMONLExHbm6UlQwml”]He acknowledged that in some private schools, reading times and library periods have been allocated on their timetables \u201cso that is done and dusted.\u201d<\/p>\n According to him, it has come to the notice of the mangers of Ghana\u2019s education system that the biggest challenge is access to reading materials but he was hopeful that enough books will be made available for onward distribution to all basic schools across the country.<\/p>\n He however disclosed that in 2013, the GES introduced \u201ca set book for junior high schools\u201d which was strategically named \u201cCockcrow because for us, that was the dawn of the beginning of a conscious to introduce reading literacy in schools.\u201d<\/p>\n In related development, an educationist, Anis Hafar, has advised parents to take in keen interest in their children\u2019s education<\/p>\n He said it is critical for parents to \u201cbe very clear on what it is that their children are studying in school by discussing their subjects\u2026and we should get them [children] to explain to us what it is that they do and we need to take interest.\u201d<\/p>\n He again recommended that parents should create a space in their homes [a work station] for their children to study.<\/p>\n \u201cIt should be a place where the child can sit and concentrate\u2026it should be a place where all the books are, where all the pencils are and where the computer is,\u201d to reduce the amount of time children spend looking around for particular books to study.<\/p>\n Mr. Hafar was convinced that if this work station is created, it will enable children to concentrate on their academic work because \u201cthe more young people get to concentrate, the brighter they get.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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