Congregation applauds class 2 pupil for reading the Bible

At age 14, Wonder Heduvor decided to enrol at Sogakofe primary school in the South Tongu district of Ghana's Volta Region, years after dropping out of school. Because of his age, the teachers chose to register him in class 2, but had to change this decision. Wonder could not read.

Wonder's re-entry to school in 2003 coincided with the introduction of a USAID literacy initiative that seeks to teach children in classes 1 to 3 to read and write in their local language before transitioning to English.

USAID, through the Education Quality for All (EQUALL) project educates school communities about their role in supporting children at home. Class teachers and their head teachers, and circuit supervisors are trained in various language-teaching approaches. USAID also supports districts with funds to monitor and support the teachers. The teachers then set up library corners and work stations in the classrooms, and extensively use provided teaching and learning materials.

Wonder, one of the initial beneficiaries, started learning the sentences his teacher taught in his mother tongue, Ewe. He also practiced with Ewe books of his older siblings. With time, he was able to write to his teacher asking permission to be absent when he was sick. Wonder began to realize a change in his reading ability and his confidence soared.

"One day, I walked up to my Sunday school teacher and told him I could read the Bible. He did not believe it, so he tested me and was convinced. He then lined me up to read to the congregation. I read Ephesians 6:4 to the surprise of all. They all clapped for me. My reflection on this always spurs me to learn more and to excel," Wonder said.

Wonder's remarkable performance encouraged a church member and the proprietor of a non USAID-supported school to introduce this literacy initiative in her school . Her teachers participated in subsequent training programs, and thereafter introduced work stations as well as prepared sentence makers.

Like Wonder, reading abilities of children in USAID-supported schools since 2003 have improved. Their Ewe reading ability rose from 34 to 40 percent between 2006 and 2007, while the English reading value increased from 23 to 55 percent in the same period.