The Ghana Library Authority (GhLA), in partnership with Smartline Publishing Ltd., has launched a reading competition to encourage the continuous reading of books among students during their vacation.
The 40-day reading marathon would run till October 31st, 2022 under the theme, ‘Avoiding the Summer Slide.’
It also aims is to ensure that essential literacy skills and academic gains made by students during the academic year are not lost during this vacation.
Speaking with DAILY GUIDE, Regional Consultant for Scholatic working with Smartline Publishing Ltd.,
Joyce Agyare, said the challenge is a way of getting students excited about reading whichhas numerous benefits andis important for national development.
She indicated that it is also to help students avoid the ‘summer slide’phenomenon where after vacation, students return to school not as sharp as they were before.
She said that has to do with the lack of brain activity and readingduring the holidays, thus the partners have created reading programs and exercises to keep them intellectually active during the holidays.
“So we thought why we don’t partner with the Ghana Library Authority, which has much expertise in the dissemination of information and reading materials in the country,” she said.
Mrs Agyare said the children will be groups into four categories namely, lower primary, upper primary junior secondary and senior high schools.
Within each category the children are given the opportunity to read for 40 days on electronic devices like their phones, laptops or tablet and then undergo a test based on the number of books they are able to read.
She said the students stand a chance of winning reading devices at the end of the competition.
“The program is a GHC150 and it can be accessed for the entire year, so you use the forty days to win a tablet or a computer and the rest of the year you have it to use.” Mrs Agyare added.
Head of Corporate Affairs GhLA, Angela Osie Gyan, said 2022 is a year of books with one main objective of promoting literacy.
“So this partnership is one of the channels we are using to promote literacy,” she indicated.
Interested individuals can registered via the Ghana library authority platform.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri
