Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 30 March '99

A major obstacle to the success of the Vision 2020 programme is the high rate of illiteracy in the country, Mr Larbi Siaw, an elder of the Lutheran Church in Ghana, has observed. He said the programme could be successful if the rate of illiteracy is reduced to enable majority of Ghanaians to contribute to socio- economic development. At the inauguration of a 75-member literacy class made up of 50 women and 25 men of the Kwadaso Estate branch of the church in Kumasi last Sunday, he said "to achieve the objective of the Vision 2020 Programme, there is the need to ensure that every Ghanaian is literate to contribute towards socio-economic development". The class is under the Non-Formal Education Division of the Ministry of Education. Mr Siaw asked facilitators of the NFED to be dedicated and try to satisfy the special needs of the adult learners.