By: Razak Baba
15-Year-Old, Lordina Serwaa Agyapong of Tafo-Pankrono M/A Junior High School in the Ashanti Region has won the Second Edition of the Otumfuo Community Reading Challenge, which took place at Manhyia Palace in Kumasi.
Miss Agyapong who represented the Old Tafo Community in the grand finale of the reading challenge under the auspices of Otumfuo Osei Tutu Foundation, took home the ultimate cash prize of 10 thousand Ghana Cedis, a plaque and a scholarship to pursue her tertiary education in any Public University in the country.
The Otumfuo Community Reading Challenge is one of the flagship programmes initiated by the Otumfuo Osei Tutu The Second Foundation in 2021.
It is a community-based reading challenge, organised specially for junior high school pupils to promote reading in English and AsanteTwi, thereby encouraging positive reading habits among the youth.
With the sole purpose of enriching students’ communicative skills and promoting the habit and interest in reading, the Otumfuo Osei Tutu Reading Challenge is conducted in 60 selected communities within Asanteman.
Competitors are assessed on four key metrics in the challenge. These are pronunciation, punctuation, fluency and speed.
In a closely contested all-girls grand finale with five contestants representing Adum, Kotei, Maakro, Obuasi and Tafo, all in the Ashanti Region, 15-year-old Lordina Serwaa Agyapong recorded a top score of 78-point-eight to snatch the ultimate prize of 10 thousand Ghana Cedis.
Henrietta Diyour of Obuasi Independence M/A JHS “B”, who earned a jury score of 77-point-four came second.
She took as her prize a cheque for 5,000 Ghana Cedis, books and souvenirs from the sponsors. Melissa Braimah Saeed of Adum, Tiwaa Antwi from Maakro and Fransisca Boakye Mensah from Kotei took the third, fourth and fifth positions respectively.
Speaking on behalf of the Education Minister at the ceremony, the Chief Executive Officer of the Student Loan Trust, Nana Agyei Yeboah, said the reading challenge, together with certain government policies such as the STEM programme, will go a long way to equip the Ghanaian child with the requisite skills to thrive in this 21st century and urged all stakeholders to provide the necessary support for the country’s socio-economic transformation
Otumfuo’s Hiahene, Nana Professor Oheneba Boachie-Adjei event said the reading challenge initiative signals Asantehene’s commitment to ensuring access to quality education in Ghana.
He said the competition and all other projects of the Foundation is a testimony of the unfading commitment of Otumfuo Osei Tutu towards seeking multiple avenues to providing and ensuring access to quality education.
