Of Books And Telenovela

Books are for reading. A telenovela is for watching. The former statement is the title of a page in a book, Think Big, written by Ben Carson, one of the world’s greatest neurosurgeons; the latter statement is a reflection of what currently prevails on televisions in the country.

Media liberalisation caught up with us in the late 1990s and since then there’re a number of television stations that have sprung up thereby opening up the media landscape and providing the citizenry a wide range of choices.

One of the things that came along with the media liberalization is the competition of which television station shows more telenovela. According to https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ , a telenovela is a soap opera produced and televised in or from many Latin American countries.

One thing these Latin American Soap operas as well as the latest ones from India and other Asian countries have come to do to the Ghanaian pupil or student is: steal the love of reading. It’s no wonder that pupils and students discuss the characters of these soap operas rather than titles and contents of books.

The media largely has been complicit in this trend of killing reading habits. Is it surprising that people ask if one was going to write an exam when they come across one reading in public? Students at the university level ask another bizarre question: how do I make time to read some other material when there’re handouts as well as notes to read for examination?

Those students in the university who ask that bizarre question may not be entirely wrong. The focus of academic excellence is the Grade Point Average (GPA) and this is determined by how accurately a student pours out the same key words and answers for a lecturer.

It therefore goes to emphasise the point that the reading culture of most students is restricted to writing and passing examination. Ben Carson in his book Think Big enumerates the benefits of reading: it activates and exercises the mind; it forces the mind to discriminate and pushes one to use his or her imagination as well as makes one more creatively inclined.

In fact, reading good books cure us of ignorance.
However, it is sad that the liberalisation of the media has put profiteering above the most important values that bring about individual development. It is sad that television stations promote reality shows and telenovela more than reading among their audience. There is nothing wrong with entertainment; however, it becomes a challenge when talent is restricted to how excellent a child performs on stage.

These reality shows and telenovela have more sponsors than the programmes that promote reading habits among the general public. All the programmes that have something to do with intellectual development hardly receive any sponsorship. If you doubt this ask Dan Afari Yeboah of “What do you know fame”.

Talent is not all about stage performance. Talent goes beyond singing and dancing. One can be talented in various aspects of life: mathematics, science, technical and vocational skills, writing, speaking, business and the beat goes on. The intellectual development of pupils and students must also receive the equal attention that stage performance is receiving in the name of harnessing talent.

Is it not ironical that we always get back to debate the abysmal performance of pupils and students in the Basic Examination and Certificate Examination (BECE) as well as the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination?

Promoting reading habits among the general public especially among pupils and students would only cure this nation of the annual abysmal performance at the BECE and WASSCE. It’s sad that pupils and students want to zap from one television station to the other in search of one telenovela or the other instead of spending time exercising their brains through reading.

Instead of showing one telenovela after the other, Ghanaian Television stations should begin to compete each other on the promotion of reading habits among Ghanaians; Corporate Ghana should also begin to sponsor those programmes that seek to develop the intellectual talents of the Ghanaian child.

The writer is a freelance journalist. [email protected]/[email protected]