The Executive President of the African Foundation for Educational Development(AFFED), Mr. Ernest Adade, has called for a national literacy emergency to address declining English language proficiency among students.
Speaking in a phone-in conversation with Ebenezer De-Gaulle on Bullet Tv’s Morning Target, Mr. Fiadomor said the decline in English language performance requires urgent attention from education stakeholders.
He said the growing use of social media-style English among students is contributing to poor performance in examinations.
“The WAEC report mentioned that our learners are writing contracted forms or social-media kind of English, and that is really affecting their marks and performance when it comes to the WASSCE.”
Mr. Fiadomor stressed that poor English proficiency could affect students’ performance in other subjects because English is the main medium of instruction in schools.
“English language is the medium of instruction across all the subjects being learned in school. So, if a learner has some kind of deficiency in comprehension, this crisis will transcend to other subjects.”
He therefore called for targeted interventions to improve students’ reading, writing and comprehension skills.
Mr. Fiadomor emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating:
“I think we should declare a national literacy emergency.”
Ghana|Atinkaonline.com|Kissi Christabel
