Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu is making a case for improvement in the reading culture of Ghanaians.
He made the observation that reading habits in the country have declined significantly.
“The reading culture in Ghana needs to improve,” he said when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (PAC) on Monday, November 3.
“When you travel abroad, especially in the mornings, you will see almost everybody holding a newspaper, catching their breath on what is happening in the country. We generally have to look at the reading culture of Ghana.”
The Minister revealed that concerns about inadequate library facilities have been consistently raised during his regional visits.
“I was in Bono Region, and the Omanhene invited me and raised concerns about the Sunyani Regional Library. The same concern was raised in Koforidua in the Easter Region. When you go to many schools, they do not have adequate support when it comes to their libraries,” he said.
To address the challenge, Mr. Iddrisu announced that the Ministry of Education will soon present a motion before Parliament to ensure that every school in the country has access to a library facility.
He further disclosed that the government is exploring the establishment of digital libraries to promote reading and research among students.
“We need to invest more in libraries,” he stressed. “If we have the resources, we should be thinking about implementing digital libraries across all educational levels.”
Meanwhile records indicate that Ghana has 139 public libraries serving about 35 million people, an alarmingly inadequate figure for a country seeking to drive development through education, information access and lifelong learning.
The acting Executive Director of the Ghana Library Authority (GhLA), Ziblim Alhassan Betintiche, who made this known, described the situation as a national challenge that must be urgently addressed if the country is to compete globally.
He added that all 139 libraries under the authority were functional, but their quality and services varied widely.
“There are even some districts that have no libraries at all. It’s a major challenge that we as new management and this government, and other like-minded personalities and institutions must look at,” he said.
