READING AND WRITING COMPETITION HELD IN SUNYANI (PAGE 15)

By Akwasi Ampratwum-Mensah, Sunyani

THE Brong Ahafo Regional Director of the Non-Formal Education Division (NFED) of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, in collaboration with the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC), has organised reading and writing competition for 26 adult learners in the region, with a view to testing and enhancing their literacy abilities.
The competition was also organised as a prelude to the International Literacy Day celebration, which comes off on September 7, 2008 at Dodowa, in the Greater Accra Region, where the national reading and writing competition will be held.
According to Mr Amponsah-Kusi Kakabo, the Sunyani Municipal Coordinator of the NFED, some of the internally generated activities of the learners would also be showcased at the Dodowa meeting and mentioned some of them as batik, tie-dye, soap and pomade making, snail and mushroom rearing, gari processing, palm oil extraction and beads making.
Speaking at the function, the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, urged the adult learners to study hard since education was key to any individual venture and national development, and also advised them to enroll their children in school by taking advantage of the government’s fee-free education and the School Feeding programme.
Also, Mr Baffour-Awuah appealed to the facilitators of the NFED programme to be patient with the learners because of their decision to learn at an advanced age, adding that any attempt to ridicule them during classes would dampen their spirits and enthusiasm to learn, thereby defeating the objective of the government to provide education to adults.
The Regional Minister further urged those selected to represent the region at the Dodowa competition to endeavour to win prizes for the region at the national level.