Worldreader Brings Ghanaian Families and Educators Together to Get Children Reading

On December 7, 2022, Ghanaian students, families, and educators will join Worldreader’s Accra DigiReads Experience to share their love of reading and discuss the power of digital reading to overcome the learning crisis.

The global learning crisis is threatening our future. Today, 64% of ten-year-olds worldwide cannot read and understand a simple story. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated inequality and educational challenges, putting children at risk of being unable to reach their potential in school and life.

In Ghana, school closures disrupted education for 9 million children. Even before the pandemic, the 2019 Ghana’s Ministry of Education Strategic Plan already highlighted access to quality, relevant, and equitable educational resources as a priority to ensure learning outcomes across the country, especially in early grades.

We must get children reading now to overcome educational challenges and build the foundations for a fair and equitable future. Building a positive school and home reading environment and providing access to quality reading opportunities is crucial.

Coming together to overcome the learning crisis

This December, Worldreader Ghana brings together children, families, and educators in Accra for the second edition of the Accra DigiRead Experience – a day to explore the power of reading to build a better world and the possibilities that digital reading offers to overcome the learning crisis. Government representatives and nonprofit and corporate bodies will also be in attendance. Local students who have been supported through Worldreader’s solutions and programming will also share their passion for stories by reading together during the event.

The 2022 edition of the Accra DigiRead Experience will take place at Kinbu Gardens, Accra City Hall (AMA Headquarters) on Wednesday, December 7 at 11 am.

Getting Ghanaian children reading

Worldreader has been supporting Ghana’s young readers through numerous projects since 2010. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we moved fast to bring digital reading to some of the communities most affected by the learning crisis.

Since the start of the pandemic, thousands of Ghanaian parents, children, and teachers have been reading on BookSmart. Readers are engaging with titles from a combination of local and international authors that are age-appropriate and culturally relevant, aligned to the education curriculum, and promote social-emotional learning and gender equity.

In the coming years, Worldreader Ghana will focus on increasing reading impact among children aged 3-12, in line with the government’s priority areas in education – improving learning outcomes through literacy as highlighted by the Education Strategic Plan (2018-2030) and the Ministry of Education’s Communities of Excellence Initiative.

Harnessing the power of digital reading with BookSmart

BookSmart is a free all-in-one solution that provides reading opportunities at the touch of a finger. It features hundreds of culturally relevant and curriculum-aligned books in several languages curated for children aged 3-12. Plus, BookSmart makes reading more engaging thanks to fun learning activities, reading challenges, reading tips for caregivers, and much more.

With each book completed on BookSmart, children improve their reading comprehension, learn valuable social-emotional skills, and become more digitally literate.

Readers in Ghana and worldwide can enjoy reading on BookSmart anytime, anywhere, on any device, including mobile phones, making it easy for children and families to read together both online and offline.

A better future powered by reading

Worldreader is an international nonprofit organization that gets children reading so they can reach their potential. Because we believe that readers build a better world, we collaborate with key influencers and partners to provide the tools, training, and resources needed to get children reading at least 25 books a year with understanding. By harnessing the power of regular digital reading, children can improve their comprehension, empathy, and digital literacy and reap the benefits in school and life.

We have already reached over 21 million readers across more than 100 countries and are working to support millions more.

➤ Are you a parent? Download BookSmart for free and bond with your kids over stories – offline reading is available so that your family can keep building a better future together anytime, anywhere.
➤ Are you a teacher? Partner with us and discover how to use innovative, low-cost technology and world-changing reading programs to empower your students at home and in the classroom.
➤ Are you a reading champion? By supporting our work, you’ll power the stories that ignite the imagination of children in Ghana and around the world and help them reach their full potential.

This article was co-authored by Akordy Abingya, Worldreader Partnerships Development Manager, and Kezia Agbenyega, Content Acquisition Manager.