Pan-African Reading Conference to focus on five areas - Coordinator

Accra, July 26, GNA - The Pan-African reading conference to be hosted by Ghana in August would focus on five main areas, Professor Kate Adoo-Adeku, a coordinator of the conference, said on Tuesday. The areas are Literacy for Education Development, Literacy for Political and Economic Emancipation, Literacy for Social and Health Liberation, Literacy for Gender Empowerment and Literacy for Adult Empowerment.

She told the Ghana News Agency in Accra that some 800 participants from across Africa and the Americas would attend the conference dubbed "Pan-African Reading for All" aimed at rallying reading associations in Africa under one umbrella.

The conference would be on the theme: "Literacy for Human Liberation".

The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport are organizing it in collaboration with the Institute of Adult Education, University of Ghana, University of Education, Winneba and other reading associations in Ghana.

Announcing the conference in Accra recently, Mr Kwame Ampofo Twumasi, Deputy Minister of Education, Science and Sports expressed government's readiness to support any move that would enhance the reading skills of the populace.

The Deputy Minister said that literacy had become a key ingredient, which continued to shape the individual to contribute meaningfully to national development.

He said there was the need to help the adult population who were not so lucky to be in school through alternative choices using the National Functional Literacy Programme to acquire the skills of reading, writing and calculating.

As part of the programme a large group of conferees from Nigeria would be driving to Ghana by bus and would launch a campaign "Literacy on Wheels Across West Africa," Mr Ampofo Twumasi said. In Ghana there would be a pre-conference leadership-training workshop to empower leaders of various participating organization from August 3-5, Mr Ampofo Twumasi said and urged Ghanaians to be enthusiastic about the conference.