By Regina Agana Akanteba and Gifty Xornam Adonoo
The Wife of the Vice-President, Hajia Samira Bawumia has inaugurated a library and ICT learning Center at the Kanda Cluster Schools in Accra.
The center is part of an initiative dubbed “Library-In-A-Box” project aimed at encouraging reading among pupils.
Speaking at the ceremony, Hajia Samira Bawumia called on citizens to reignite the reading culture, saying reading as a necessary habit for acquiring knowledge in the nation’s development efforts, cannot be overemphasized.
She encouraged the pupils to make proper use of the facility since reading is at the heart of all formal education.
The inauguration of the Kanda Cluster of Schools Research and Learning Centre is spearheaded by the “library-in-a-box” project, under the auspices of the Samira Empowerment and Humanitarian Projects.
The initiative aims at improving literacy, critical thinking and promoting the culture of reading to unlock cognitive skills of school children at the basic school level.
The Wife of the Vice President stressed that the best way to expand the horizons of school children is to better their education through reading. This, she said, would help transform the country as a whole, as well enhance teaching and learning in schools.
”Today is especially exciting for me because as an advocate for literacy and critical thinking, I believe in encouraging a lot of reading amongst people of all ages and it’s for those reasons that my thoughts for profit organisation to samira empowerment and humanitarian project has as far as its objectives to improve literacy and critical thinking and promote a culture of reading amongst pupils in Ghana”, Hajia Bawumia stated.
Deputy Minister of Education, Gifty Twum Ampofo reiterated that education is the bedrock upon which every nation thrives, hence the huge investment by President Akufo-Addo-led government in education, despite the economic challenges the country is currently facing.
”Children of today are fortunate to be under a president who is education president, together with his vice president who with all the financial constraints that the whole world is going through is still supporting education through all possible means. So now if you are a child today and you’re enjoying all the wonderful policies of education, then now we are pushing you to a certain level. To move further, the ball is in your court”, She noted.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Library Authority, Hayford Siaw said his office will ”continue to liaise with the Office of the wife of the Vice President to ensure the aim of the library project is achieved”.
”We at Ghana Library Authority of course will work with her excellency and her foundation to make sure that her investment, we will be coming here to monitor and we will also continue to bring more books because I know that you children read a lot. So in the next one year, we will finish it”.
The Ayawaso East Municipal Director of Education, Mrs. Adisa Tasa, thanked Mrs Bawumia for the gesture to the Municipality and promised to make good use of the facility.
