Adult learners in the Suhum Kraboa Coaltar District, have marked the celebration of this year's Literacy Day with a clean-up at the Suhum Government Hospital.
The theme for the celebration was "Functional Literacy: Key to national participation, good citizenship and social development".
The learners, who were assisted by the District Mosquito Spraying gang, sprayed the children, maternity and the female wards, scrubbed the floor and cleared weeds at the compound of the hospital.
Miss Doris Yankson, a staff nurse at the hospital, told the GNA that she was happy about the spraying exercise because it would help eliminate mosquitoes.
She expressed worry that babies, who were bitten by mosquitoes, contracted malaria.
Mr Sammy Kwabi, the District Chief Executive (DCE), addressing the group, asked the people to maintain a clean environment to avoid the out break of communicable diseases.
He challenged the learners to serve as role models and mobilize the people to undertake periodic clean-up exercises to help ensure a safe environment at all times.
Mr Kwabi advised the learners to take their lessons seriously and to read widely to broaden their scope of knowledge.
Mr Christopher Agyare-Kordie, Eastern Regional Co-ordinator of the Non-Formal Education Division (NFED) of the Ministry of Education, in a speech read on his behalf, said the exercise formed part of the national Functional Literacy Programme curriculum objective that required that the learners translated their knowledge, skills and resources into development activities.
Baafour Akrofi, the District Co-ordinator of the NFED, told GNA that 700 adult learners were currently being trained in non-formal functionary literacy in the district.
He said they were also receiving training in income generating activities like gari processing, oil extraction, grass cutter rearing and soap making among others.