Uriel Foundation to promote reading among children
The winner of the season two of the Bookworm contest, a reading reality show on GNTV junior channel, Master Uriel Prince Boateng Aryeetey, has admonished school-going children to make reading a habitual thing in their daily lives.
For him, it is worrying that many young people these days pay more attention to TV shows, games phones and social media at the expense of their books.
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“Reading is important, because if you can read, you can learn anything about everything and everything about anything,” he noted.
Master Aryeetey who was speaking at a function to unveil a foundation, aimed at promoting reading among young people at the Covenant Presby Church Hall in Accra on Wednesday, June 30, 2021, said reading forms the bedrock of every academic journey.
He noted that without reading, it will be difficult for anyone to chalk any meaningful academic successes, indicating that “the more you read, the more things you will discover, the more you learn, the more places you are likely to go.”
For eight-year-old Master Boateng, who is in primary three, “Reading also helps you to increase your vocabulary and communicate well”, saying “It (reading) takes you to places you cannot go and meet people you are not likely to meet.”
The Uriel Foundation
The foundation called “The Uriel Foundation” seeks to inspire reading culture among children in basic schools, particularly those in lower primary.
Giving some background about the foundation, Master Boateng said, the foundation was born on February 28, 2021, when he emerged the winner in the Season Two of the Bookworm contest in the lower primary category.
He said the mission of the foundation “is to reach out to every child, inspire, empower, encourage and inculcate good reading habit into them.”
In addition, he added, “our focus would aid every child to embrace the beauty in knowledge through inspiring, empowering, interactive reading programmes as well as donating good reading books to the less privileged as part of our programme.”
For Master Boateng, inculcating the act of reading in children will not only enrich the minds of “our future generation but would introduce an era of pure enlightenment for a good nation building.”
He said the overall objective of the foundation is to have a nation whose children have enlightened minds through gaining access to good reading materials and developing the habit of reading wide.
Commendation
The Greater Accra Regional Director of the Ghana Library Board, Mr Edward Addo-Yobo, encouraged children to see reading as an interesting activity and not a punishment.
For him, “reading is fun”, hence encouraging parents to assist their children in their reading activities, noting that parents have a crucial role to play in helping their children to develop the habit of reading.
The Headmistress of the Covenant Presby School, Mrs. Evelyn Amoamah Antwi, commended Master Boateng for his initiative, saying that it will go a long way to inspire reading in the school, particularly among Master Boateng’s classmates.
Also commending Master Boateng for his achievements, the Chief Executive Officer of Bookworm Avenue Consult, the organisers of the Bookworm contest, Mr Nelson Kofi Poku, called on benevolent individuals and corporate bodies to support the foundation to enable Master Boateng to achieve his goal of inspiring children to develop reading habit.
