Reading for pleasure among junior high school students: case study of the Saint Andrew`s Anglican Complex Junior High School, Sekondi

IntroductionEducation is considered to have a strong correlation with social and economic development. According to Usoro and Usanga (2007), "education plays an important role in the well-being of any nation that wants to sustain it's prominence in the global scene. Education not only liberates; it is a vital tool for empowerment that allows meaningful contributions to society". Every nation has a policy on education that provides guidance on the type and quality of education that its citizens should acquire in order to function as a productive citizen. The bedrock of any educational system is the basic educational level. It is thus essential that high quality basic education for all, from a child's youngest days forward must be a paramount concern to the society.Reading is the gateway to education and it must be reiterated that a child's ability to read and read well can make an enormous difference to both his/her school performance, career potential and personal success. It has been recognized as an important discipline and a child's ability to read is the centre of the educational process. Lawal (1995) has opined that "if a learner possesses poor reading habits, he suffers serious handicaps not only in school but also later in the world of work. This is even true when one considers the fact that education is now learner centered with the more effective techniques placing a far greater emphasis on the learner's ability to read". Holloway (1999) as cited in Kirsch et al. (2002) has asserted that "reading skills are essential to the achievement of lower and upper secondary students but after seven or eight years of elementary education, many students will lack sufficient proficiency as readers, and many adolescents continue to perform at an unacceptable levels". On the other hand, a research study conducted by the International Reading Association (Moore et al, 1999) that has been cited in Clark and Rumbold (2006), states that:"Adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st Century will read and write more than at any other time in human history. They will need advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobs, run their households, act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives. They will need literacy to cope with the flood of information they will find everywhere they turn. They will need literacy to feed their imaginations so they can create the world of the future. In a complex and sometimes even dangerous world, their ability to read can be crucial". Bearing this in mind, many educators have recognize that one of the main purpose of education in all countries is to ensure that students acquire the necessary skills to be able to read with understanding so that they can cope in the changing world of the technological age. The importance of reading cannot be underestimated, because it could be considered as a window to the outside world and a prerequisite for success in life. The universal importance of reading was highlighted when UNESCO declared 1990 as the "International Year of Literacy", reading skills are fundamental to everyday activities as well as necessary for personal intellectual growth.Research by Khan (2003), as quoted by Kanade and Chudamani (2006), suggests that the "reading of books broadens the reader's outlook. It enriches the mind and makes the reader an enlightened person. An enlightened person with a sharp mental ability can solve many problems in the neighbourhood, and can foster the human relationships between persons of differing backgrounds, and can move toward an advanced society". In the words of Darko-Ampem (2005), as cited in Tella and Akande (2007), books impart knowledge to the reader, draw out and foster qualities such as imagination and self-understanding, and contribute to the child's mental growth by stimulating the senses of touch, sight and hearing, the three channels by which people learn. It is clear that "books are indispensable tools for building the human resources needed for the scientific, technical, political and socio-economic development of a nation" (Charkin, 1993). …