Early grade pupils get reading materials

Tamale, May 27, GNA - A team of language experts have developed reading materials in 11 formally approved Ghanaian Languages for use by kindergarten (KG2), primary (P1) and primary (P2) pupils in public schools in the country.

The about 45 experts comprising writers, illustrators and reviewers drawn from across the country spent nearly eight weeks at a workshop in Tamale to develop the reading materials in the Ghanaian Languages including Dagbanli, Gonja, Asante, Ewe, Ga, Nzema.

Next month the materials developed will be validated by another group of experts after which they will be printed and distributed to more than 6000 schools in 100 targeted districts across the country to be used from the 2017/2018 school year, which begins in September.

This formed part of the Ghana Partnership for Education project, being implemented by the United States Agency for International Development in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service (GES) to improve the reading achievement and the quality of reading instruction in early grades.

This intervention is currently being prototyped in the Dagbanli Language in the Yendi Municipality where overall reading progress for P1 jumped from three per cent of children reading words to 64 per cent whiles pupil improved letter sound knowledge from three words per minute to 16 words per minute within two and half months.

Dr Paul Opoku-Mensah, Executive Director of the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation, who spoke during the closing of the workshop in Tamale, said the development of the materials would help in the transformation of education in the country.

Dr Opoku-Mensah said the lack of reading materials at early grade levels had been a critical challenge in the school system.

He said the development of the reading materials would help improve reading amongst pupils.

He emphasized: 'When children begin education in the language they know, they come with confidence, which helps to transition them to a new language like English.'

Alhaji Mohammed Haroun, Northern Regional Director of GES, whose speech was read on his behalf, said many pupils could not read fluently in English Language and the situation was even worse when it came to reading in Ghanaian languages.

Alhaji Haroun expressed happiness that the development of the materials, which would ensure learning in local languages during early grades, would help improve reading among pupils in the country. GNA

By Albert Futukpor, GNA