Mr. Victor Noye Tawiah, the Ga West Municipal Director of Education, highlighted the significance of reading in the educational development of young learners at the Reading Festival. This event was organized by the Ga West Education Directorate in collaboration with MNUN-West Africa for schools in the municipality on July 23, 2024, in Amasaman.

The theme for the event was "Learn to read, read to learn, read to explore," and learners from various schools in the municipality participated. The pupils competed in reading, spelling bee, and pick an art, with various prizes at stake for the winners.

According to Mr. Tawiah, reading skills are fundamental for students to thrive in the 21st century. He explained, "If you can't read, you can't understand whatever is going on in your world, so reading forms a basis for our learners to acquire knowledge and understand their immediate environment."

The Reading Festival, organized for the first time in two years, aims to showcase the reading talents of early graders and inspire others to develop a love for reading.

"The essence of this activity is not only to help learners display their talents and skills in reading but also to encourage those who may not be interested. By seeing what their peers are doing, they will be encouraged to demonstrate and express an interest in reading," he added.

Mr. Tawiah also encouraged more females to take up ICT-related fields. He said there is an improvement in the penetration of technology in the teaching and learning process, so the empowerment of females in ICT will go a long way to ensure that we leverage the number of girls in the country against their participation in ICT because the gap is quite wide," Mr. Tawiah said.

He added that future efforts must focus on equipping schools with adequate facilities.

"We need more ICT facilities in our schools. We entreat the government and all stakeholders interested in developing education to ensure that we properly equip our ICT labs," he advocated.