Research has revealed that a number of candidates of the Basic Education Certificate Examination
(BECE), are not able to make it because they cannot read the instructions and questions written in the English language.
Evidence from pilot studies done by the Ghana Education Service (GES) recommended that Ghanaian languages were appropriate as the medium of instruction from the kindergarten level to primary three, while English language should be used for instruction at the upper primary level.
This, the studies said would minimise the rate at which pupils fail the BECE.
Ms Florence Daaku, Literacy Programme Officer of the National Literacy Acceleration Programme (NALAP) made this known when she led a group of journalists in Saltpond to have a first hand information on the successful implementation of the project in the Central region.
The journalists visited the Wesley Methodist Nursery and Kindergarten (KG) School in Saltpond and Edumadze Municipal Assembly Primary ‘A’ School in Mankessim
NALAP, which commenced in February 2010, is a literacy- initiative by the Ministry of Education and the GES in collaboration with the Grant Reporting Accountability Improvement Literacy Project, which focuses on reading comprehension and providing the much needed quality instruction to bring about improved learning outcomes.
The programme, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is being implemented nationwide to improve the reading skills of more than 2.7 million pupils in the country.
NALAP aims at building on the language and experiences familiar to the pupils.
It is based on the assumption that children learn to read and write better and more quickly in their mother tongue and can easily transfer these skills to the learning of English language.
The approach integrates phonic, syllabic, and look-and-say methods to make initial learning in school more meaningful.
Ms Lucy Mensah a KG teacher and a beneficiary of NALAP said the approach which included the use of pictures gave the children a
better understanding of lessons and their environment.
She commended the GES for the initiative but complained that the duration of 90 minutes was too long.
Ms Justina Arthur, a primary two teacher at Edumadze Municipal Assembly Primary, complained about the increased number of pupils, which made it very difficult for movement.
The Mfantsiman Municipal Director of Education, Ms Vivian Etroo lauded the initiative and said it had increased the performance of pupils in the area.
She said in June 2010, the municipality recorded 14.9 per cent as against 13.9 in 2009 for reading activity of Primary One. It also
increased to 27.5 per cent in November 2010.
The area recorded 17.3 per cent in the English language in June 2010 as against 6.1 per cent in 2009 for Primary one and 42.9 in
November 2010.
“We are convinced that this year will record a remarkable increment and our teachers are doing their best to make the district proud.
"We have to use the NALAP books effectively so that we can derive the benefits from them," she said.
The pilot programme was carried out in 20 districts.
In South Tongu, Ewe reading ability at USAID-supported schools rose from 34 per cent to 40 per cent from 2006 to 2007, while the English reading score increased from 23 per cent to 55 per cent within the same period.
The major objective of NALAP is to equip the majority of children in the basic education system with literacy skills to improve their learning abilities and serve as a springboard for further academic pursuit.