Accra, March 25, GNA - A World Newspaper Reading Passport was on Thursday launched in Accra by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and the Media in Education Trust, Ghana, (MiET).

The passport would be use to record the amount of reading done by young learners, while earning visas as they accomplished various tasks which include identifying newspaper articles that relate to the subjects they are studying in school.

Launching the programme, Dr Aralynn Mcmane, Education and Development Director of WAN, noted that the project would encourage the culture of reading newspapers through the establishment and development of young readers and newspaper education programmes in the world. She said the project set up by WAN was to encourage young people to become newspaper readers, which would serve as insurance for the industry while expanding their horizon.

Dr Mcmane said the passport was a pilot project, which was being commenced in Ghana, adding: "The objective is to introduce and reinforce the idea of using newspapers in classrooms to media executives, educational authorities and teachers in developing countries." Mr Ellicot Seade, Executive Director of MiET-Ghana noted that the programme would enrich teaching and learning methodology in schools and other educational institutions.

He said the increment on newspaper awareness as part of efforts to introduce child supplements would also boost the sales of newspapers and reduce the over dependency on political reportage.

Mr Seade observed that even in the book industry, books for children sold more and so would it manifest when newspapers published items that interest children.