 |
|
|
Winners in the kindergarten category.
Forty boys and girls representing the best readers in the 10 regions of Ghana gathered in the Accra International Conference Centre on November 9, 2006 for the Luncheon and Awards Ceremony for Ghana's 2nd National Reading Competition. They had competed in district competitions to win the honour of representing their regions at the kindergarten, primary and junior secondary school levels. Representatives of some deprived schools in Kumasi were also in Accra to receive prizes for winning a reading quiz organized by the Book Industry Department at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The children were accompanied by their teachers and housed in boarding schools in Accra.
Each of the 40 regional winners was presented with a collection of books to call their own and then the first, second and third place winners in each category were announced and presented their prizes to great applause. Their schools also received prizes.
Mrs. Akoss Ofori-Mensah, Chairperson of the Ghana International Book Fair Trust, expressed her delight that the reading competition was catching on with schoolchildren all over the country. She encouraged all children in Ghana to keep the light of the joy of reading shining.
Mrs. Angelina Baiden Amisssah, Deputy Minster of Education, Science & Sports in congratulating the finalists at the awards ceremony in Accra on November 9, 2007, stressed the importance of reading and reiterated the government's commitment to the importance of reading.
An initial grant from CODE in 2004 made the first national competition possible and a second grant supported the 2006 competition. Book industry practitioners and other corporate partners also support the reading competition with cash and in-kind donations. The Ghana Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service support the program with cash and human expertise.
The judging was held over a number of days. The 11-member panel of judges included educationists, representatives of the Ghana Education Service, Ghana Booksellers Association, the Ghana Book Trust and the Ghana Writers Association.
For many of the children and their teachers this was their first trip outside their communities. One child spoke excitedly about the friends she had made from other parts of the country and how she was going to keep in touch with them; another spoke about the sites they had visited; another said she couldn't wait to attend secondary school so she could live in a boarding school such as the one they stayed in during the competition.
) |
) A student with the judges. |
) In the reading tent. |
) Akosua Antwi-Boasiako reading from Mavis, a pearl of great price, a book she wrote when she was in high school. |
) Mrs.Baiden Amissah, deputy minister for education. |
) Yvonne Appiah, Executive Director, CODE presenting a prize. |
) |
) |
View all News Releases
