Gov’t Worried Pupils Can’t Read Or Write – Ablakwa

Government is becoming increasingly worried over a report that showed a poor performance by pupils in literacy and numeracy tests, according to a Deputy Minister of Education in-charge of the Tertiary Sector, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

He stated that government is determined to overcome challenges that currently plague basic education in the country. “Recent evidence on the present state of lower grade education in Ghana suggests numerous challenges. According to the 2014 Early Grade Reading Assessment report, most pupils performed poorly in literacy and numeracy. The assessment found that reading ability was not impressive,” he revealed.

He made these comments at the launch of the Ghana Reading Action Plan which is a United States government-sponsored project valued at about $78 million.

The lead implementing agency from the United States government is the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Okudzeto Ablakwa re-echoed that even though the project target is 80% literacy for early readers, the ultimate goal of 100% literacy and numeracy is attainable.

The Plan proposes adjustment to the reading targets to increase the percentage of early grade readers (KG1-P3) from 20.4% to 80%.

“Though our target is 80% we will not close the window to achieving 100% because we will agree that no child has to be left behind,” he added.

A survey conducted by World Vision Ghana has revealed that only 32 percent of children who have completed primary six in the West Gonja District are able to read and write with comprehension.

This abysmal performance falls below the national average of 35.3% which government and other development partners are collaborating to turn around.

This follows an earlier survey by the Ghana Education Service (GES) which showed that 98% of primary two pupils in various schools in the country can neither read nor understand English or any Ghanaian language properly.

The Ghana Reading Action Plan will be implemented with the collaboration of the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service from now till 2017.