A nationwide training programme for Senior High School Librarians has commenced in Ashanti Region.
The training forms part of the School Libraries Transformation Programme, spearheaded by the Ghana Library Authority with support from the Ministry of Education to inculcate a reading lifestyle among young people and to ensure that school libraries are well equipped to support the provision of quality education.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum said the training is a sign that government is committed to ensuring quality education, within the framework of the implementation of free Senior High Schools. He encouraged the SHS librarians to continue to read to be atop of their profession to inspire students to read more. He also tasked the Librarians to “be agents of change and be innovative in motivating students to patronize the use of the resources at the libraries.
The Acting Executive Director of Ghana Library Authority, Hayford Siaw, in delivering a welcome address applauded the participants for the enthusiasm they have shown for the training programme. “ The GhLA will continuously invest in ongoing professional development for school librarians and we will soon roll out online courses that will allow you to acquire additional skills in library and information science,” he added
On completion of this training, SHS Librarians are expected to implement the knowledge acquired in organizing their libraries, create visibility for the library among the student population and optimize the use of the materials available.
On her part, the Board Chairperson of Ghana Library Authority Board, Dr Helena R. Asamoah Hassan, who chaired the opening event, encouraged the beneficiary Librarians to embrace this opportunity and learn as much as they could. “Since you have been denied this training for a very long time, make optimum use of the engagement with the facilitators and go back to equip your students to enable them to be ready for rigorous research and information search at tertiary”, she concluded.
The training has been categorized into four zones. Zone one, comprising schools in the Ashanti, Bono, Ahafo and Bono East Regions is underway at Kumasi.
Zone Two will be made up of schools in the Greater Accra, Central, Western and Western North Region. Zone Three will focus on schools in the Eastern, Volta and Oti Regions and the Zone Four will cover schools in the Upper East, Upper West, Savannah, Northern and North East Regions
About 700 school librarians are expected to be taken through training areas such as Cataloguing and Classification, Preservation of Documentary Materials, Practical use of Library Management System for collection management and many others.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM
