Two bodies introduce innovative teaching methods
The World Vision Ghana, in collaboration with Open Learning Exchange (OLE) Ghana, is currently implementing an innovative teaching method to improve literacy in schools.
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The Ghana Reads programme is aimed at arresting low literacy levels among basic school pupils.
More than 40 per cent of pupils in primary three and 31 per cent in primary six perform below minimum competency, Mr Kofi Essien, the Director of OLE Ghana, has revealed.
Citing the 2013 Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) and National Education Assessment (NEA) report, Mr Essien observed that a number of pupils in primary six also struggled to read and write even after five years of education.
Making learning pleasurable
This, he said, was an indication that there was the need to adopt improved teaching methods that would make learning pleasurable to children, in addition to the tuition in the classroom.
“Children like to play games and do more of activities they find fun and interesting. Doing more and more of these activities becomes a habit. Why don’t we then make learning fun for them so that they would want to learn more and, in the process, make learning a habit?” he questioned.
He said there was enough evidence to also show the children were not the problem but there was the need to make learning an enjoyable experience for the learner: to get him or her to want to learn and to learn more and to always learn voluntarily.
He noted that in finding answers to challenges plaguing the educational system, the adoption of such models as Ghana Reads Programme, under the Open Learning Exchange (OLE) Ghana initiatives (which is currently being piloted in 28 schools), was necessary to make learning easier and pleasurable for children, to improve basic education in the country.
Universal literacy
He explained that the initiative sought to develop a learning model for universal literacy for all Ghanaian children through the introduction of new ways of learning “that involve the use of affordable technology tools that support small learning teams, with pupils interacting with quality resources found on a Raspberry Pi server, which houses the OLE Basic eLearning Library (BeLL).”
He added that the Ghana Reads project aimed at increasing access to high quality, interactive learning resources in the classroom.
He said the partnership had since 2013 yielded positive results. Currently, OLE Ghana has deployed the Ghana Reads programme in four World Vision Area Development Programmes (ADPs), namely Afram Plains, Kintampo South, Anyima Amansi and Sekyere East districts.
Mr Essien used the occasion to commend World Vision for the support and expressed optimism that it would go a long way to improve education in the country.