Kyere launches Upper East book scheme

Bolgatanga (Upper East) 13 July '99

Mr Kwabena Kyere, a Deputy Minister of Education, on Monday launched the Book Scheme for Basic Schools (BSBS) in the Upper East Region at Bolgatanga.

With the scheme, pupils in public primary schools in the region will be supplied with library books on one-to-one basis free of charge.

In addition, primary schools in the area are to be provided with two copies each of 50 different book titles for their libraries. They will also have a five per cent replacement of books per annum for the first five years of the implementation of the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) programme.

Mr Kyere stated that the need to help children cultivate the habit of reading could not be over-emphasised in the present scientific and technological age.

"The first step in education is literacy, and the ability to read is the key to knowledge, he emphasised.

Mr Kyere urged teachers and parents to encourage their children to develop the culture of reading by reading with them, adding that a child who enjoys reading can become a self-educated adult.

He said the success of the book scheme programme would be measured by the interest shown by the school children in the books donated and by the impact of reading on their classroom performance.

In a welcoming address, the Upper East Regional Minister, Alhaji Amidu Sulemana, said the inadequacy of essential teaching materials, particularly reading books, was one of the major causes of low standards of education at the basic school level.

He said the results of the 1997 Criterion Reference Test (CRT), for example, indicated that only 6.1 per cent of pupils in public schools in the Upper East Region had attained mastery level in the English language.

The Regional Minister attributed the trend to poor reading culture among school children and urged teachers in the area to help pupils build a solid foundation in English language.

Alhaji Sulemana called on the district assemblies to establish community libraries in the rural areas to make books accessible to schoolchildren in the villages.

He thanked the British government for providing the needed financial support for the realisation of the book scheme.