Former president John Agyekum Kufuor commends Raising Readers initiative
Readers initiative for supporting children in the country to improve
their learning and broaden their minds through the reading of books.
Mr. Kufuor, who hosted 50 children from the Odododiodio constituency
at his residence in Accra to read with them, said: “Reading is the first
tool of education and I am happy that children will benefit from this
arrangement by the Tigo Shelter for Education programme and Raising
Readers Foundation to encourage and cultivate reading among Ghanaian
children.”
“The wisdom of elders is captured in books and in reading, we learn
wisdom through what others have put in books. If you want to be a bright
student or pupil, you must learn to read”, he added.
The former President, who applauded the progress made so far by the
initiative, urged the children aged between 6-13 years to take up
reading seriously as it was one of the ways for them to gain wisdom and
insights into the world around them.
Passionate about education, Mr Kufuor called on parents and teachers
to assist children in cultivating the habit of reading at an
early-stage. “We see that language is changing but let us not rush
children through the early stages of education on abbreviated words and
slangs. Let them learn to read properly the traditional way and then
learn to do their Maths properly before we resort to the use of IT.”
He also used the occasion to donate books to the children and encouraged them to make good use of the resources.
The Raising Readers initiative is a partnership between Tigo’s
Shelter for Education programme and Raising Readers Foundation, a
non-governmental organisation that is committed to encouraging children
to read and supported by Cowbell, Zoomlion and the EIB Network.
Since launch in April 2017, the initiative has benefited over 800
children in the Odododiodio constituency and seeks to reach out to
children in other constituencies in the coming weeks.
It has also received support from journalists, authors, child
advocates and head of public institutions such as Blogger Ameyaw Debrah,
NCCE Chairperson, Josephine Nkrumah, TV personality Baisiwa
Dowuona-Hammond, Sports journalist, Michael Oti-Adjei, among others, who
serve as reading ambassadors.
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