90,000 Books On Essien For Central Region

Though midfield maestro Michael Essien might not have got the chance to avail himself for national assignment in the World Cup being hosted in South Africa, versatile as he is, he has joined a crusade to stem the dwindling standards of education in the country.

Over the next two weeks ahead of the 2010 World Cup, about 35,000 pupils from basic schools in the Central Region will benefit from 90,000 library books, detailing the life of Essien which are expected to enhance their reading skills.

The GH¢1,000,000.00 project which is an international collaboration between Pearson Education, Sedco-Longman, The Right To Play, One-Goal, Michael Essien Foundation and the Chelsea club is aimed at increasing literacy levels by whipping active interest in reading in children.

The book dubbed “Reading Goals Series” which is developed around the life of the Ghanaian midfielder, Michael Essien, and facts about the world cup is being anticipated to create a distinctive platform to encourage reading among pupils.

Addressing the launch of the reading goals series held in cape Coast, the minister of education, Alex Tettey-Enyo, commended the humanitarian project and expressed the hope the study materials would be used for the intended purpose by the various schools.

According to him, the country is still struggling to achieve the effective struggling to achieve the effective literacy rate under the Millennium Development Goals which target achievement of universal primary education and therefore, need the concerted efforts of all.

He noted that education is the hub around which social change in every society evolves and thus, the government is committed to the attainment of quality teaching and learning.

“It is therefore heartwarming that this project introduces into the system topical subjects of interest through the employment of popular theme such as soccer and the world cup to capture the reading and learning skills of students,” he said.

Mr. Tettey-Enyo charged district directors to ensure that the books are made available to the students in their districts before the end of the world cup competition. “The children need to read and enjoy this book while the competition is on,” he said. The Sales Director of Pearson Education for Africa and the Caribbean, Michael McGarvey, noted that the tremendous popularity of football has the power to influence the behavior of people.

“In that vein, what Pearson Education and its collaborators seek to do is harness the power of football to enhance reading skills among children,” he said. He said they are therefore using football stories and heroes as concepts and facts to attract the interest of the students to appreciate reading and build their language skills.

Mr. McGarvey said the reading goals series which are carefully graded supplementary books would be made available across the country for other students in the various regions. In a televised message from Michael Essien, he noted that education is an important tool for children in Africa adding that, that explains why he has joined the crusade to promote quality education in the sub-region.

He expressed the hope that his efforts would go a long way to play a significant role in the lives of many children in Africa.

Source: The Heritage/Ghana