The chiefs, students and the entire people of Agona Asafo in the Central Region have celebrated the 10th-anniversary of their community library with a call to eschew party politics which breeds divisiveness and retard progress.
This call was made by a professor in Educational Leadership at the Institute for Educational Planning and Administration, a UNESCO Category II Center of Excellence at the University of Cape Coast, Professor George Kweku Toku Oduro.
According to Prof. Oduro, although the Constitution of Ghana allows for political affiliation, it should be done in a manner that promotes progress and development of the society rather than frustrating it.
To him, “party politics should bring everyone together instead of bringing about division to enhance development in communities and societies.”
Speaking at the 10th anniversary celebration of the Agona Asafo Community Library celebration, he recounted how Agona East lost a mini factory designed to process cocoa pods which he lobbied for the people of Agona Asafo.
“I arranged and got some people from Auburn University to come and help establish a mini factory here to process cocoa ports which are left unattended to. These people came in, brought in everything and were about getting to the final stage. But just because of some demonstrations that gave them the feeling that there was no unity among the community on NDC and NPP line, they went and what they told me was that they were afraid that if they invested in the project, it would not be sustainable” he continued.
The 150-seater Agona Asafo Community Library which was commissioned in September 2013 is an initiative of Prof. George Oduro and his wife Prof. Mrs. Georgina Yaa Oduro with financial support from Friends of Agona Asafo in the United Kingdom.
He said the library since its establishment has helped to improve students’ performance both in and around the neighbouring towns.
Prof Oduro therefore appealed to parents to motivate their wards to make good use of the facility, adding that plans are in place to digitalize and enhance its use.
“We have started engaging some companies and individuals who will help us to digitize it. In fact, the library serves a very wide community apart from the basic schools here. And the library is situated in the centre of the town. So we think that if we digitalize it, it will help.”
He further encouraged parents to develop more commitments to their children’s education despite the free education. He emphasized saying they ought to also play their part.
Speaking on the theme for the anniversary: ‘Promoting Reading and Writing: The Role of Community Libraries’, an advisor on teaching and learning partnership at the Transforming Teaching, Education and Learning (T-TELL), Professor Jonathan Fletcher emphasized that education is one of the ingredients that contribute to the growth of any economy and an important factor for socio-economic development.
He thus said that education is perceived as providing an important building block or finding ground-breaking strategies for improving the capacity of an economy by facilitating the knowledge and skills one needs to enable them understand and use new information and technologies.
“Generally, the association between education and development has provided impetus for nations to invest large sums of money in education because education is arguably the game changer” he continued.
Professor Fletcher added that most community libraries are usually closed down after a few years of commissioning and therefore commended the board of Agona Asafo Community Library for their efforts in keeping the library functioning.
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Source: Eric Sekyi/ATLFMNEWS
