Poor Reading Habit Affects Quality Of Education

Reading in everyday life situation is paramount to all school going ages irrespective of their family background, class or programme of study. Reading is a key to success at all level of education and its significance in many areas of academic achievement can never be overemphasized. Reading is the only tool for success in all academic industries.

It goes along with writing at all instances in life.'We should practise reading every day because reading, contrary to being an innate habit, is a skill which is honed to perfection through constant practice. In other words, you have to go beyond merely wishing you could read which would enable you to gather the meaning off the printed page with the least effort and within the shortest possible time' (Opoku-Agyemang,1998, p. 2 ).

The falling standard of education in Ghana and Africa as a continent emanates from lack of effective reading habit, perhaps in public basic schools. There is no clear evidence which proved that there are insufficient reading materials available for Ghanaian’s children to read. Ghana is blessed with pro writers and researchers. The late Prof. Kofi Awunoor, Ama Atta Aidu, Kofi Anyidoho and some other renowned authors’ act d’oeuvre count Ghana among the best literary work producers in Africa.

Besides, Ghana has got libraries well-stocked of books in all the ten regions but one could just envisage the number of public basic school pupils who make time to read a page of a book a day. There is an evident that Ghanaians have apathy towards reading which could be ascribed as a total negligence of the basic school curriculum to match pupils’ reading aspirations. Though teachers in basic schools tread reading comprehension with their pupils in class they do not promote reading. Hardly do teachers treat reading as a major topic in class. Pupils depend solely on their comprehension textbooks for reading; hence they hardly read novels, dramas or poems for leisure purposes. We understand government budget, every year, goes for books procurement with the aim of enhancing reading skills in our communities; but research shows that our educational standard is declining profusely as a result of lack of reading interest within the public basic school pupils; which negative effects on tertiary institutions and job markets are great worries to policy makers. 'In a survey conducted on a sampling of the year groups in one of the halls of residence at the University of Cape Coast, it was revealed that most of the respondents were not very excited by the volume of reading material they are supposed to cover' (Opoku-Agyemang, 1998, p. 1).

Illiteracy can never be eradicated if reading is not enforced right from the early stage of our children’s education. Research conducted some years back shows that a broad range of graduates from universities were unemployable as a result of their poor communicative skills which is vehemently attributed to poor reading habit in the basic schools. Reading is a culture which can be assimilated yet few people make it a priority,

There is no development if education is not meant a priority in Africa. It is a key role for economic sustainability and transformation. Reading appears to be the core mandate among the four communicative skills which involves writing, speaking and listening. Ghanaians attitude alone towards reading in our various offices discourages the reading interest in our children in schools. Newspapers are purposely meant for reading yet most officers including our policy makers scan just some three pages and do away with the rest of the readings. Pro learner inability to enjoy reading is a big predicament to tackle in our society. Reading apathy has great effects on our education and its distraction continues day-to-day in our job market. Western world has proved its high recognition with regard to high reading achievement, whereas Africa is still lugging behind, hence the need to accelerate reading culture in our children.

In recent times, Ghana Association of writers in Accra has mobilized children for pleasuring reading (Book Club) which I deem quite appealing to Ghanaians. The re-launching of the Mobile Libraries in Ghana appears to be one of the significant moves as a supreme concern of the policy makers; perhaps, a major apprehension to change most people’s attitude towards reading, and to ginger our young ones’ to read more and promote extensive reading notwithstanding among pupils in public basic schools.

How to read a book, Sam Anderson (March 4,2011) a major question in his article published. His theories emphasizes marginalization; that is when one proved to have really gone into a book through reading. He further argued that you didn’t truly own a book (spiritually, intellectually) until you had marked it up. Today most students have a learning disability as a result of an inability to apply marginalia theories during their studies;

I think reading in basic schools needs to be redesigned in order to enhance an extensive reading aspiration. Reading provides an avenue for grammar embodiment which most scholars appraise as modern way of teaching grammar; thus a great transition from traditional methods of teaching grammar in isolation to an innovative language teaching method. Introduction of this programme does not in any way suggest the total nonexistence of any programme that aims at developing children’s interest and abilities in reading. The Junior High School English Language teaching syllabus, categorically apportioned a slot on the teaching timetable for Library.

As a measure to improve quality reading in basic schools in Ghana, Literature in English has been embodied in the curriculum to perhaps enrich pupils’ communicative skills. This could only be achieved through head teachers, teachers, parents, politicians, policy makers as well as the pupils themselves whose cooperate responsibility is highly needed for its sustainability. Excellent reading materials are in-stock in most bookshops but a personal research conducted a year ago on how people patronize books in these shops revealed that prescribed textbooks are the most reading materials patronized daily. Novels and dramas are rarely bought even mainly shop at by foreigners. Ghanaians need a change with respect to reading and we must act now!

References:
Opoku-Agyemang N. J, (1998). A Handbook for Writing Skills. Accra: Ghana Universities Press

Anderson S. (2011). What I Really Want Is Someone Rolling Around in the Text. USA: The New York Times