Spurs secured a 2-0 victory over the Championship side in a pre-season friendly on Saturday.

Kudus, who recently joined the North London outfit, made an immediate impact by providing the assist for Tottenham’s second goal.

Speaking after the match, Frank expressed his satisfaction with the Ghanaian midfielder’s performance.

“Mo Kudus, he’s the newest one. I thought he was exciting to watch — had four or five very good actions where you can see what he’s about: his pace, his one-on-one skills, the way he can twist and turn going forward,” he said.
“That was a positive,” he added.

Kudus signed for Tottenham from West Ham United on a six-year contract in a deal reportedly worth £55 million.

The former Ajax playmaker will be aiming to build on his bright start when Spurs take on Luton Town in their next pre-season fixture at Kenilworth Road on Saturday, with kick-off set for 14:00 GMT.

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The Ghanaian international, who recently joined Spurs from West Ham United in a £55 million deal, was named in the starting lineup by manager Thomas Frank and immediately justified the hype with a dynamic display at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.

Kudus was instrumental throughout the contest, linking up smoothly with his new teammates and showcasing the creativity, pace, and tactical intelligence that made him a coveted signing this summer.

Tottenham broke the deadlock in the 49th minute through young striker Will Lankshear. Just four minutes later, Kudus made his mark by setting up Luka Vušković with a precise assist, putting the result beyond doubt and earning praise from fans and pundits alike.

The 24-year-old midfielder signed a five-year contract with Spurs and is expected to play a central role in Postecoglou’s plans as the club looks to make a strong impression in the upcoming season.

Kudus’ debut performance offered Tottenham supporters a glimpse of the flair and composure he brings to the pitch—and hinted at bigger things to come.

The organization has constructed a modern library for residents and pupils of Afari Presby Basic School.

The Afari M/A Basic School in the Ashanti region, like many rural public schools, is bereft of adequate reading resources and facilities, impacting the literacy in the area.

Despite Ghana’s progress to improve access to schools, several children cannot read nor write.

The situation is dire in remote areas owing to lack of reading facilities at schools and communities as the country presently has only 150 out of a proposed 500 libraries across each district.

A large number of pupils in the country are struggling to meet proficiency cut-off points for the English Language between grades four and six.

Headmaster of the school, Reverend Francis Afum Agyei recounts the situation at the school.

“The new library is going to help us a lot because the new library has an ICT lab and a modern books that will benefit the students with the new cariculum that we are using now.

Now we need a new building block for the students . Our numbers is almost 600 now and the classrooms and tables here are not enough so we need tables, chairs and a new block to accommodate more students,” he said.

Across Ghana, only 150 libraries have been established out the proposed 500: twenty of the facilities have been constructed in the Ashanti region.

The Ghana Library Authority describes the situation as woefully inadequate.

Ofosu Frimpong is the Ashanti regional librarian.

“The libraries are woefully inadequate across the country. There are plans to increase the numbers but we’d need support from the philanthropic institutions like this,” he said.

To change the narrative to providing easy access to a variety of books in public schools and communities, the Sanitation and Literacy, Ghana (SALG) has unveiled a new library for students of Afari Presby Basic School.

Over the past decade, SALG has demonstrated its commitment to enhancing education in Ghana by sending 20 to 40 containers of books to rural areas and performing schools across the country.

Founder of the organisation, Rose Sarpong Owens says plans are in the pipeline to provide technology accessibilities to Ghanaian children.

“Looking ahead, SALG has ambitious plans to further empower the youth of Afari by providing access to modern technology. In line with this vision, the organization is in the process of building a state-of-the-art computer lab, aiming to equip children with the skills necessary to thrive in the technological age,” Rose Sarpong Owens, founder of the organization, said.

The Volta region, Upper East, and the St. Paul Senior High School in the Ashanti region have all benefited from SALG’s book donations.

Emphasizing the importance of literacy, she encouraged students in Afari to cultivate the habit of reading, citing it as a crucial step towards a brighter future for these children.

Not limiting their efforts to educational investments alone, SALG has made significant strides in improving sanitation facilities in schools.

The organisation has constructed toilet facilities at the Opoku Ware by constructing to enhance hygiene conditions for students.

Other winners include Citi Breakfast Show host, Bernard Koku Avle and Peace FM’s Sports Editor, Dan Kweku Yeboah.

The three were awarded at the launch of the 2018 Accra International Book Festival (AIBF) held at the Institute of African Studies last Tuesday.

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The AIBF’s Reading Promoters Award honours individuals and corporate institutions who are promoting reading and writing in the country.

Out of 54 individuals and institutions nominated for this year’s Award, only three people made it to the top list based on the nature of their work and the impact.

Oheneyere Gifty Anti has touched many lives and continues to do so through her educational projects aimed at getting girls from deprived homes in school.

Through her non-negotiated dedication, passion, compassion, and commitment, she has led many selfless initiatives to bring back the reading culture of Ghanaians.

Bernard Avle has been instrumental in efforts to inject life into Ghana’s literature and make it one of the best in the world.

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He has helped to give voice to many young and upcoming writers, poets and musicians without which they would continue to remain in the shadows.

A hardcore football pundit, Dan Kweku Yeboah is helping to promote sports education across the country.

His book ‘Coachhene, Football Gift to Mother Ghana’ helps to immortalise late former coach of the Black Stars, Emmanuel Kwasi Afranie.

Mr Yeboah has explained he was motivated to author the book because of the lack of national recognition for the many works done by the late coach.

‘Reading, writing key to development’

The Accra International Book Festival was established to build not only a community of readers but also writers, AIBF West Africa Coordinator, Kwabena Brakopowers has said.

“Our core objective is to build self-consciousness among Ghanaians about their culture and to turn them into ambassadors of same abroad,” he said.

The launch of this year’s festival was attended by key personalities such as Lancaster University Ghana Provost Professor Anthony Jarvis, writer and human activists, Esi Sutherland-Addy, Nana Ansah Kwao IV, and Oheneyere Gifty Anti.

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Other guests included Ghana Book Trust Executive Director, Genevieve Eba-Polley, students of Awutu-Winton SHS in the Central Region and some writers.

The partners for the 2018 festival are Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), University of Ghana’s Institute of African Studies (IAS) and the Tourism Ministry.

Busy Ghana is the Internet Sponsor of the event.

The study surveyed 60 enumeration areas in Kpandai, Sagnarigu and Sawla/Tuna/Kalba Districts covering 1,158 households and 60 schools where 3,209 children aged three to 15 years were reached and 2,371 children aged six to 15 years were assessed.

It found that “94 out of every 100 children assessed in class three could not read a class two level story and correctly solve class two level numeracy questions up to division.”

It also found that “60 out of every 100 children assessed in class six could not read a class two level story and correctly solve class two level numeracy questions up to division.”

The study, which was released at a forum in Tamale, formed part of the Strengthening Citizen Action for Learning and Empowerment (SCALE) in Ghana initiative, conducted by Choice Ghana and Centre for Active Learning and Integrated Development, both NGOs, with support from IBIS in Ghana, now OXFAM.

The SCALE-Ghana initiative seeks to generate reliable and inclusive data on educational achievement of all children through a citizen-led, household-based assessment as the most appropriate mechanism to track the learning progress for all children, regardless of their age, gender or schooling status.

The forum, which brought together stakeholders in education from the three districts, was to amongst others deliberate on ways to help improve education outcomes in the districts.

Mr Adjei Kadiri, Programme Coordinator in-charge of SCALE-Ghana said the study also found that, 14 out of every 100 children on any given day sat on the floor to learn adding “This differs from one district to the other as Kpandai has the highest number of children sitting on the floor at 59 percent.”

Mr Kadiri said despite efforts made, a number of children of school-going age were still out of school in the three districts.

He expressed the need to ensure that not only were all children attending school, but that they were also learning the basics to ensure quality education as well as the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals 4.

Mr Askia Mohammed Prince, Director in-charge of Planning at the Northern Regional Directorate of Education called for improved funding for monitoring and supervision of schools to address the challenges uncovered by the study.

Mr Mohammed Prince also called for effective functioning of school management committees to complement the efforts of the Ghana Education Service to improve education outcomes in the country.

Mr Emmanuel Tatablata, District Chief Executive for Kpandai said the district would convene a meeting on the findings to seek solutions to ensure quality education in the district.

The study was conducted at 20 enumeration areas in the Kpandai District of the Northern Region from November 2016 to April this year by IBIS in Ghana, an NGO together with some of its local partners led by Choice Ghana, another NGO based at Salaga in the East Gonja District.

The study formed part of the Strengthening Citizen Action for Learning and Empowerment (SCALE) in Ghana programme, an educational learning assessment that seeks to establish children’s basic competencies in literacy and numeracy and aims at the development of foundational skills of children in literacy and numeracy.

Mr Bakari Ibrahim, Project Officer at Choice Ghana, who presented the outcome of the study at a stakeholders’ forum at Kpandai, said “71 per cent of pupils from primary three to primary six can do a primary two level division whereas 29 per cent can read a primary two level story.”

The study also showed a high school drop-out rate in the district as they were many pupils at the kindergarten level compared to low enrolment at primary six level.

It also revealed that more boys within six to 15 were literate and good at mathematics compared to girls in the district.
Mr Ibrahim said the assumption had been that schooling would automatically lead to learning hence the study, which was aimed at improving children’s competencies in literacy and numeracy at the basic level through citizens’ awareness and active participation.

Mr Abdul Fatawu, Deputy Co-ordinating Director at Kpandai District commended IBIS in Ghana and its local partners for the study, which would help to improve education delivery for pupils in the district and the country at large.

Stakeholders comprising officials from the Ghana Education Service at the District, school management committee members, head teachers, amongst others mentioned absenteeism, inadequate teachers, poor infrastructure, poor knowledge of parents on the importance of education, ineffective supervision as some of the factors accounting for poor performance of pupils in the district.

They pledged to ensure that teachers were regular in school, sensitise parents on the importance of educating their children and the need to repeat a pupil if necessary to improve performance.