Editorial
Enhancing children’s literacy and numeracy skills
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The foundation of education at the basic level is the to pay attention to the development of our literacy and numeracy skills.
The need for the development of such skills is necessary to ensure that right from the basic level, children of school-going age are adequately prepared to develop their reading as well as mathematical skills.
Literacy skills include the development of children’s aptitude test towards the development of word formation and reading skills. Such reading skills are what result in high-level competence in the ability of people to read and write satisfactorily.
Many of our children are unable to read very well because right from the beginning many of them are not introduced to reading and literacy skills.
Usually, children who develop their skills at an early stage regarding reading are able to perform creditably well when given the chance to develop their creative skills in reading.
As has been stated already, apart from reading or literacy skills, there is the need for children to develop their creative skills in numeracy and basic calculations.
The development of such numeracy skills is what helps the children to be quantitative-oriented, meaning that it helps them to go about their calculations with ease. If quantitative and numeracy skills are encouraged, it helps the children to embrace mathematics as they climb in the educational ladder.
Thus, both numeracy and literacy skills serve as foundation block upon which reading and comprehension as well as mathematics skills can be developed and used in reading and calculations as students go through the educational system.
These days, it is easy to come across many people who have finished school at various levels yet are not able to express themselves well in the official language of instructions: English Language.
In the same way, some of them have developed phobia or fear for mathematics simply because right from the beginning their literacy and numeracy skills had not been developed in the way expected.
If the country’s educational system is to be given a sound foundation for rapid socio-economic development, then we need to pay greater attention to the foundations that help to build up fundamental skills in literacy and numeracy.
Indeed, all academic work and professions as well as acquisition of knowledge in schools are greatly linked to the foundations acquired with regard to the development of our mathematical and reading skills.
The implication of this is that, we need to lay a good foundation for children of school-going age, so that the skills they develop in these areas will be used in enhancing their reading abilities.
The Spectator is aware that the Ministry of Education is working hard to bring reforms in the educational sector. We welcome such bold and necessary measures, so that children in our educational institutions will be able to perform better as far as acquisition of academic and professional knowledge, critical thinking skills and creativity in general are concerned.
We wish the educational sector well and encourage all educationists, students and academic institutions to do their best and collaborate with one another in the interest of the nation.
Dear Editor,
I want to use this platform to create awareness on the growing safety challenge at some of our beaches, particularly the lack of adequate safety measures to prevent accidents.
Beaches are important recreational spaces that also contribute significantly to Ghana’s tourism industry. However, many beaches lack trained lifeguards, emergency equipment and proper supervision.
During weekends, holidays and sometimes weekdays, families visit these beaches to have fun and some, for relaxing, yet the necessary safety measures are often inadequate.
The situation becomes even more worrying when children and inexperienced swimmers enter the water without proper guidance; it can quickly turn a day meant for enjoyment into a tragedy for families.
I urge beach operators and local authorities to strengthen safety measures at our beaches, make trained lifeguards available at busy beaches, warning signs clearly displayed and emergency responses system established.
Public education is equally important as well. Visitors must be encouraged to obey safety instructions, avoid dangerous places and remain vigilant especially when children are around.
Ghana has beautiful beaches with enormous potentials that attract both local and international tourists, but we cannot promote beach tourism effectively whiles neglecting the safety of the people who visit these places.
I hope the authorities will treat beach safety as a national priority before it cause any tragedy.
From Elvis Amoako
Teshie-Nungua.
Dear Editor,
In Ghana, it appears that the moment a prominent politician is arrested or convicted, we fail to ask of the person’s offence but rather think of the person’s political affiliation.
Taking the recent 20-year imprisonment handed to New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti regional chairman, Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi has once again exposed this troubling culture.
An Accra high court convicted him on illegal-mining related charges and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. The NPP has since announced its intention to appeal the conviction.
What concerns me is not whether one belongs to the NPP or the NDC, what concern me is our growing tendency to attach a political identity to every arrest, investigation or court judgment. If an NPP member is arrested, some immediately say the NDC government is targeting the opposition. If an NDC member faces legal trouble the same argument will easily be reversed when political circumstances change.
We must ask ourselves; Are we defending justice or are we simply depending on our political colours? Political affiliation should never determine whether we believe a person deserves investigation, prosecution or a fair trial. If someone is accused of wrongdoing the proper institution must investigate, the court must determine guilt and the accused must have the right to challenge the decision through legal process.
Ghana cannot build a strong democracy if every criminal investigation becomes a political battle. Let us learn to separate politics from justice, a wrongdoing does not become right because the accused belong to your party and an accusation does not become true simply because the person belong to the opposing party.
Our loyalty should first be Ghana, the rule of the law and justice not to political colors.
From Desmond Yaw Frimpong
Pentecost University
