The Bible Society of Ghana, a non-denominational Christian organisation has celebrated the 2023 International Literacy Day in the Bolgatanga, Upper East regional capital, with a call for efforts to improve literacy levels in the country.
International Literacy Day is one of the major events that the Bible Society of Ghana (BSG) observes in partnership with Literacy and Evangelism-Ghana, Complimentary Education Agency (CEA). churches, communities, local authorities, and other stakeholders including UNESCO. The Day serves as a platform for the Society to spread awareness about literacy, promote good quality education as a matter of dignity and human rights, and advance the literacy agenda towards a more literate and sustainable society.
International Literacy Day is marked on 8th September every year and this year’s celebration was under the theme “Promoting Literacy for a World in Transition: Building the Foundation for Sustainable and Peaceful Societies.”
Delivering a speech at the celebration in Bolgatanga, the National Coordinator of the Bible Society of Ghana, Julius Anthony Kobla Gawobunah underscored the importance of the improved literacy in the country.
According to Mr. Gawubunah, literacy is the ability to read and write in various languages.
“The Management of the Bible Society of Ghana, however envisaged and introduced Literacy in Gurene and the Esahie Languages, in the Upper East and the Western North Regions, to encourage people to learn how to read and write in these languages, so as to make good use of the Bible translated in these languages and other related materials in these languages. It was also with the aim of improving our cultural identity, as a people. What we eat and wear, as a people, make us unique, thus preserving the language and developing us as a people. To improve our cultural identity, we have to read books, listen to music relevant to our culture.”
The National Coordinator of the Bible Society of Ghana further called on parents to try speaking their local languages to children at home.
“A language is considered critically endangered when only grandparents speak it. It is therefore worthy of note that one language dies off every fourteen days. So the world is currently noted to have seven thousand languages. This means that, if we are not thriving at preserving our languages, in the near future, they would have been jeopardised. The study of our local languages could possibly pave the way for beneficiaries, in the world of work, to get employment, in rare situations, because of studying the language. This and many other reasons had the functional Literacy package of the Bible Society of Ghana rolled out, in 2019.”
Speaking on behalf of the Upper East Regional Director of Education, Bright A. Lawoe, the regional Public Relations Officer of the GES strongly embraced the need for improved literacy.
Source: A1Radioonline.Com|101.1MHZ|David Azure |Bolgatanga|
