Ho West MP urges constituents to cultivate reading habit
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He said a limitless culture of reading would help erode the notion in some circles that reading was very low among the black race.
Mr Bedzrah referred to a text message he received recently stating that, “If you want to hide a precious gift from a black person, hide it in a book”, alluding that the black race was not interested in reading.
He however said this notion about the black man could be reversed if parents and teachers encouraged children to read either at school or home.
Mr Bedzrah was addressing the inauguration of a library stocked with over 1500 books on various topics by the Disaster Volunteers of Ghana (DIVOG), a local non-governmental organisation(NGO), with the collaboration of a Canadian NGO, Links Across Borders, for the people of Kpedze-Todze in the Ho-West District last Thursday.
In an address, the Ho-West District Director of the Ghana Education Service(GES), Mr Seth Ayivi-Tosuh, said the importance of libraries under the current educational dispensation could not be overemphasised but said it was faced with the technological challenge of the widespread use of mobile phones which had diverted attention of both teachers and pupils from reading.
Mr Johnson Opong, on behalf of the Ghana Library Authority, said a library should be considered as a treasure house for achieving knowledge, adding that poor academic performance at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and the West African School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) had been traced to the poor reading habit among pupils.
The Founder and Executive Director of DIVOG, Mr Richard Kosi Yinkah, said the organisation had achieved several feats in the provision of school blocks to several communities in the Volta Region, and that the achievements were based on the readiness of beneficiary communities to embrace their programmes.
He, therefore, said community participation was a hallmark of the NGO in its efforts to complement efforts of the central government to deliver needed development to the people.
In a welcoming address, the chief of the town, Togbe Okumka V, said without reading, a section of society could be isolated in the global village, and called for the maintenance of the legacy in the town.
Other speakers at the function included the Ho Municipal Director of the National Service Scheme, Mr Hayford Bredzei, who assured the people of support to run the centre as part of its mandate, and the Ho Municipal Director of the Department of Social Welfare, Mr Nat King Tackie, who asked citizens to help stock the library.
In the chairman’s remarks, a retired navy commander, Admiral John Gbena, said a precious gift had been handed over to the people and would serve as an instrument for the creation of wisdom in the community but cautioned that unless it was properly supervised and maintained, nothing might come out of it.
Professor Morrison was enstooled an honorary queen of Kpedze-Todze under the stool name, Mama Agbalenyo I. She presented a number of gifts on behalf of some friends in Canada to the people.
Story: Tim Dzamboe