The Theresa-Joseph Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation, has launched a reading and numeracy programme to inculcate the habit of reading and numeracy skills in children from underprivileged communities in the Greater Accra Region.
The unveiling of the programme coincided with the commemoration of this year’s International Literacy Day, which is celebrated on September 8, every year, by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
The President of the Foundation, Mr Kwasi Danso Amoah said at the launch of the programme on Sunday that, he will start a reading clinic for children in Bukom and Korle-Wokon area on October 6, to improve reading among children so that they could participate effectively in nation building as adults.
The Foundation, he said, would provide reading materials for about 50 to 100 children between the ages of five and 12, and hope to support about 500 children in the next two years.
They would meet every week or fortnight to teach them basic techniques of reading and test their understanding in reading and provide them with some incentives to motivate them to read regularly.
Currently, he said, the programme was being funded from his personal resources, while few friends were offering him support.
He said he would reach out to corporate entities for support in the future so that it could expand the programme to children in other parts of the country.
“I started this Foundation because I realised that though we’re in Accra, the national capital, but there are so many children whose reading is not the best and don’t know what they’re about, with bad reading and numeracy skills.
“So I always have plans to help these kids, so when I was called to the Bar last year, I had wanted to wait and work for a while because such project comes with lots of funding and time.
“But I realised that everything start at a point and once you start it, it’s about enthusiasm and energy, and I believe God will see you through,” Mr Amoah stated.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has dedicated September 8, every year, as an International Literacy Day, to create awareness on reading and numeracy in the quest to root-out illiteracy by 2030 as outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals.
According to the UNESCO, there are about 757 million adults around the world that cannot read or write and majority of them are in the Sub-Saharan Africa.
Research has identified literacy as an effective tool that prevents girls from entering into early marriages and helps them to pursue their career paths to achieve their aspirations in life.
It was in that vein, Mr Amoah, a young legal practitioner established the Foundation to prepare and inculcate the habit of reading in children in the area.
Mr Raymond Tuvi, a Lawyer and Author, who presided over the programme, encouraged the children to take reading seriously because most successful people in the world succeeded in life because of education and commitment to their respective pursuits.
He used his personal experience to encourage the children to aspire for greater heights in life.
