Government has revealed plans to spend at least seventy million dollars ($75 million) annually for the next five years to encourage reading among students.
The Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Tertiary Education, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, in an interview with Citi News said the plan will complement government’s e-textbook policy to improve student literacy in the country.
He said the amount will be used to procure more text books and build the capacities of teachers to enable them carry out their duties satisfactorily.
Mr. Ablakwa said the training will be geared towards encouraging students to read more.
“We are making the right investment in terms of building capacities of these teachers and providing text books. The President’s e-textbook and tablets agenda is going to be complementary to this.”
The Early Grade Reading and Mathematics Assessment conducted by the Ghana Education Service (GEC), recently revealed that ninety percent of pupils cannot read or understand what they write.
But according to Okudzeto Ablakwa, the trend will be reversed when the policies are fully rolled out.
‘Gov’t worried pupils can’t read or write’
Government has said it was worried about findings in the Early Grade Reading and Mathematics Assessment report last year, that showed a poor performance by pupils in literacy and numeracy tests.
Mr. Ablakwa said government is determined to overcome challenges currently confronting basic education in the country.
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