Government asked to promote literacy

Winneba(C/R), Jan. 21, GNA - The Executive Director of the Centre for Literacy Empowerment, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), based in the Upper West Region, Mr Abdulai Jakalia has called on government to promote literacy in the country. He therefore stressed the need to re-introduce the Functional Literacy Programme and also put in place programme and policies that would ensure that every child is in school, adding that 'if there was early literacy, crime will reduce; adult illiteracy will reduce in society'. Mr Jakalia who is a retired senior lecturer at the English Department of the University of Education, Winneba, was speaking in an interview with the GNA in Winneba. He expressed concern about the inability of most students to read in recent times, resulting in the introduction of the Extensive Reading Programme into the curriculum of the University in the 2008 academic year. Mr Jakalia said the rationale for the Programme was to make the students cultivate the habit of reading so that they would impart it to their future students. According to him, most of the students have expressed interest in the project. Mr Jakalia said he used a model called the "Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading followed by Discussion and Expression" which affords readers the opportunity to discuss freely what they read and share their experiences. He called for the introduction of a reading culture in schools and urged the youth to emulate good models to sharpen their future to improve society.