The 11th Ghana International Book Fair was, yesterday, organised in Accra on the theme: “Book Reading in the World of Internet”. The President of the Ghana Publishers Association, Mr. Konadu Asare Yamoah, in an address, said the fair had positioned itself as the convergent platform for industry practitioners, intellectuals, educationists and the total Ghanaian population.

Mr Yamoah said the causes of the poor performance of students over the years, according to the West Africa Examinations Council, had been identified as the lack of understanding of examination questions and poor organization of thought and ideas, with the major challenge being lack of reading.

He noted that for internet to be beneficial to Ghanaians in the global village, there was the need to improve reading skills and reading culture in general to boost the confidence in learning and the understanding level.  “When you read, you borrow from other’s experiences and vision and add value to yourself”, he emphasised.

The Secretary-General of the Pan African Writers’ Association, Professor Atukwei Okai, in his remarks, said the fair marked a special landmark in the making of the book industry in Ghana to get the message across the country that reading was the key to modern life.

Professor Atukwei said the acquisition of knowledge was derived from reading and that reading was not only for students but for the general populace as well. “If Ghana wants to move ahead, then we need to read and borrow ideas from others to make a nation” he said.

He urged Ghanaians to attach importance to the book industry since the world was changing in many ways.

Source: ISD (Nancy Krampah)

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