Worldreader, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) will be hosting a reading festival to sensitize participants on reading in the Kwaebibirem District.
The festival takes place on the 3rd October between 9am and 4pm.
This will feature a sensitization float in Kade with book readings, reading games, poetry recitals, and a cultural display by school children and teachers in the Kwaebibriem.
Former Second Lady of Ghana and Worldreader Board Chair, Mrs. Matilda Amissah Arthur will be honouring the program with other dignitaries such as Okyeame Kwame and Worldreader Chief Impact Officer Catherine Appiah- Pinkrah.
Also, officials from the Ministry of Education and Worldreader Chief Impact Officer, Rebecca Chandler-Leege will grace the occasion.
Below is the full press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Global NGO Celebrates Literacy Gains and the Power of Digital Reading at the Kwaebibriem Reading Festival
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
3 October 2019
Sakora Park, Kade, Kwaebibriem District
Accra, Ghana, 25 September 2019 – Worldreader, the global nonprofit organization that helps the world read, will host a reading festival on October 3 at Kwaebibriem. The festival will celebrate and highlight Worldreader’s Ghana District Scale Program in Kwaebibirem District as well
as mobilize parents, community members and invited guests to actively participate in reading initiatives.
The festival will feature a sensitization float in Kade, book readings, reading games, poetry recitals, and a cultural display by school children and teachers in the Kwaebibriem District. Children, parents, and guests will have the opportunity to participate in reading activities and interact with books at various booths.
Seven-hundred guests are expected to attend including these dignitaries:
- Catherine Appiah- Pinkrah, Director of Pre-Tertiary Education
- Officials from the Ministry of Education
- Her Excellency Mrs. Matilda Amissah Arthur, Former Second Lady of Ghana and Worldreader Board Chair
- Okyeame Kwame, musician, brand influencer and Worldreader board member
- Rebecca Chandler-Leege, Worldreader Chief Impact Officer
Mr Samuel O. Ntow, Kwaebibirem Municipal Education Director, had this to say about the event: “We are very excited to celebrate reading and the tremendous progress of the Ghana District Project. The project is helping increase the literacy level of our students and building the skills of our teachers to integrate technology into the classroom. The success of this program illustrates the power of digital reading in preparing students with 21st century skills and to be life-long learners.”
About Worldreader’s Work in Ghana
In 2010, Worldreader started its first e-reading program in a small classroom in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Today, the Ghana District Scale program seeks to provide digital reading to all 90 public primary schools within the Kwaeibibirem District (Worldreader is currently working in 54). This model illustrates that digital reading in schools can be scaled nationwide by creating systems-level change starting at the district level. Putting hundreds of books in the hands of students with a single e-reader, digital reading has the power to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by supporting improvements in school readiness, early grade reading outcomes, critical thinking, 21st century skills development, social-emotional learning, gender equality, and workforce readiness.
Students in Worldreader Ghana’s e-reader programs improved 94% in mother-tongue oral reading fluency after just five months, and girls in the program improved twice as fast in oral reading fluency as girls in neighboring schools, closing an existing gender gap (iREAD2 Midterm Study).
Additionally, Worldreader has a library of thousands of books available via a mobile phone app. Reading on Worldreader Mobile is particularly popular with women, who spend on average 207 minutes reading per month, compared to 32 minutes for men (Reading in the Mobile Era, a study of Worldreader Mobile by UNESCO).
Across all Worldreader programs in Ghana, 145,00 readers per month access digital books.
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About Worldreader
Worldreader is a global nonprofit whose mission is to help the world read through increased accessibility to digital books. The organization provides students and their families with a digital library available on tablets, e-readers, and mobile phones, complemented by a suite of reading support programs. Since 2010, more than 13 million people across 50 countries have read from the Worldreader digital library of thousands of local and international digital books. Worldreader works with device manufacturers, local and international publishers, government agencies, education officials, and local communities to help readers worldwide.
MEDIA CONTACTS In West Africa
Kezia Agbenyega
Publisher and Author Relations Manager, West Africa Worldreader kezia@worldreader.org
Mobile: +233 246 21 36 92
In the United States
Melanie Wise
Director, Global Marketing & Communications Worldreader melanie@worldreader.org
Mobile: +1 415-637-5999