Press release on the world literacy day

PRESS RELEASE: INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY



KUMASI, Ghana, 7 September, 2016. On the occasion of the 50th annual International Literacy Day which falls tomorrow, Light for Children Ghana would like to encourage everyone in Ghana to think about what literacy means for this country.

Before the colonial era, Sub-Saharan Africa was dominated by oral traditions and had no history of mass literacy. Although oral tradition is by no means obsolete, Africa is still struggling to develop high enough levels of literacy and education to compete in the modern global economy.

Light for Children, a child-centered NGO in Kumasi, has fostered literacy at a grassroots level by building and operating an Education Center. Located at the Atonsu cluster of government schools in Kumasi, this center includes a children's library and computer lab. Local and international volunteers have run reading and writing programs for children, resulting in the creation (to date) of six new children's books both in English and Twi.

In the rush to embrace new technology, people sometimes underestimate the value of books in fostering literacy and education and, in the l0ng term, improving economic outcomes. In our experience, children are extremely enthusiastic about reading story books, allowing them to improve their literacy and language skills almost effortlessly.

In honour of International Literacy Day, we encourage all parents and teachers to make use of any library resources that are available in your community. Next week we will open our space to celebrate the most recent book in our collection. For more information about this event, please call 020-230-6985, or email us at info@lightforchildren.com.

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."