Our Second Round of Reading Competitions

I traveled to Ghana for six weeks in May/June of last year, and it’s becoming a tradition that we hold competition events at Kasadwini Atenaeɛ (our language arts center in the village of Asisirwa) when I’m on-site. In 2020, we held our first reading competition, which was just for junior high school students (there’s one JHS and one primary school in Asisiriwa). Last June, we went bigger and held two reading competitions and a poetry-writing competition!

Day 1: The primary school reading competition

The first reading competition was just for the upper primary school students (grades 4-6). As usual, we asked the teachers to put forward their ten best readers. Since primary school students are just beginning to learn the English language, we gave these ten competitors only a Twi novelette to read (Wosum Borɔdeɛ a Sum Kwadu bi by J. Gyekye-Aboagye) and a week in which to read it. Kumi wrote 25 questions in Twi about the book while they did so.

On the day of the competition, our youngest contestants ever gathered in a row, seated at a long table behind their nameplates in our amphitheater. There were a couple notable problems, however. First, two contestants were missing because their parents wouldn’t let them participate in the event. Exactly why these parents did this was never made clear, but I’ve written before about how not all parents in this village are supportive of formal education; some of them believe that children should rather be working on the family farm. The second problem was that we had only a handful of spectators—we had agreed with the headmaster that the whole upper primary would come out and support their classmates, but only one class showed up. The headmaster had changed his mind because he was afraid of the optics of half the school doing an event because he hadn’t done his due diligence and informed his superiors at the district education office. Fortunately, we got him to relent and release more students to come for our fun educational competition (the community later forced this terrible headmaster out of the village for other trespasses).

8 contestants participated in the primary school reading competition

So, in the end we had eight contestants: Bright Dwamena, Adutwumwaa Naomi, Agyapong Cosmos, Owusu Joseph, Margaret Gyamena, Opoku Kelvin, Ibrahim Patience, and Kofi Johnson. Kwame Brenya joined us for these two days of events and got to see some of his former students compete. As Kumi started reading the questions, it was clear that most of the contestants weren’t confident enough to raise their hands and snag the chance to answer, but they warmed up as they went. Agyapong Cosmos and Owusu Joseph made some early gains, but soon Opoku Kelvin emerged ahead of both of them to seize a clear and uncontestable lead with 8 points to their 4 and 3 respectively. By the end, the spectating students had also warmed up and were cheering and laughing as Opoku Kelvin shot his hand up on every question, either getting it exactly right or hilariously wrong.

Prizes for the primary school reading competition winners

Opoku Kelvin won first place and was awarded a certificate that he could exchange for a tailored primary school uniform, a JHS school uniform, or a pair of shoes suitable for school (all items that parents struggle to provide for their kids). Since he was a 6^th grader and would be moving on to JHS the next year, he elected to use it for a JHS uniform. He also received a backpack fully stocked with exercise books, a math set, paints, a sketchpad, pens, pencils, erasers, and a pencil sharpener. Agyapong Cosmos and Owusu Joseph also received stocked backpacks as the 2^nd– and 3^rd-place winners. All contestants received snacks and drinks homemade by Mary.

Day 2: The JHS reading competition

The next day, we held the JHS reading competition. Being more advanced students who are required to learn English, these ten contestants had been given two books to read—one in English (Mensah, the Warrior Boy by Akua Asare-Menako) and one in Twi (Owuo Agyaa by Agnes Effah Donko). The Twi book was significantly longer and more difficult than the English one. The JHS students remembered our first reading competition (most of them were primary students at the time) and they were excited for it. The whole school turned out to watch and cheer for their classmates, including the teachers. We were also honored to have the ɔkyeame (the chief’s linguist) of Asisiriwa, Jackson Opoku; two officers from the Ministry of Arts, Tourism, and Culture; and two representatives of Akan News in attendance.

The English portion of the reading competition challenges the students

We started with the English questions, written by me and read by our Director of Operations for Untold Ghana, Quist. Our ten JHS contestants were Louis Opoku, Eugene Opoku, Belinda Frimpong, Julliet Opoku, Eunice Nyanta, Christabel Opoku, Desmond Twum, Esther Birago, Victoria Frimpong, and Maxwell Nii Annan. In the English section, four contestants formed the pack at the head: Esther Birago with 3 points, Belinda Frimpong with 4 points, Louis Opoku with 5 points, and Eugene Opoku with 8 points. They would need to do well in the Twi section as well to maintain their lead.

The Twi portion of the reading competition engages the audience

In the ensuing 25 questions about the Twi book, which more spectators understood and got more electrified about, fates were decided. Belinda and Esther fell away, evidently stronger in their comprehension of the English book. Julliet Opoku, who had stayed quiet during the entire English section, managed to get 4 points. Louis Opoku continued his steady fight, gaining another 5 points for a total of 10, but he couldn’t outdo Eugene Opoku, who racked up another 10 points for a total of 18! By question twenty, it was clear that Eugene would win, and he kept getting them correct just to cement his dominion. As the 1^st-place winner, Eugene won a tablet computer and a backpack full of school supplies. Louis and Belinda took 2^nd and 3^rd place respectively, winning fully stocked backpacks as well. All the contestants received homemade snacks for their efforts. After Eugene walked away with his prizes and the admiration of his teachers and classmates, Kumi turned to me and said with a knowing nod, “He’s the smartest student in the school.”

The benefits of reading competitions

I love these competitions because they accomplish so much: They build a positive association for education in the minds of students and parents, they teach through play, they create an exchange of knowledge with the teachers, they give students access to resources they didn’t have before, and they make literacy instantly gratifying. We’re able to hold these language arts events because of small donations from supporters like you, so thank you for your support and thank you for reading!