Teach effective reading in schools

A retired educationist, Pastor Edward Quansah has called on the Ghana Education Service (GES) to introduce a course that would ensure effective reading in schools.

This course, he said, should mandate teachers to teach reading to students especially at the early age so as to help students comprehend whatever they are taught in their schools.

“If you don’t know how to read, it is impossible to understand every subject because every subject is readable…,” he said.

Against this backdrop, the septuagenarian has helped to develop a new reading formula to make reading and pronunciation of words easy for his students and is hoping to introduce it to the general public soon.

The formula which spells words according to their pronunciation is intended to simplify both Ghanaian and foreign languages for students and teachers alike.

The Proprietor of Hynes Academy said it is also purposed to enable readers to pronounce English, Spanish and French words correctly.

It would also assist them to pronounce correctly words in local languages such Hausa, Ga, Twi, Ewe, Nzema and Yoroba.

According to him, the plight of students especially in their inability to read motivated him to introduce the formula to help students.

He noted that despite the essence of reading in the educational curriculum, teachers do not have the ability to teach the subject of reading; a situation which force students to understudy it on their own and pronounce words wrongly.

“Most children are not taught to read properly hence their dependency on teachers do not pay off, therefore it would do the nation lots of good if we teach our kids how to read well…,” he added.

“It is a unique programme for reading that when students are taught on how to use it, they can read every book…,” he added.

And true to his words, pupils of the academy were able to read and translate into different various languages different articles in the presence of this reporter.

Pastor Quansah therefore called on the GES and the government to come to his aid so that he can help introduce the formula and its accompanying CDs to schools in the country.