Actress Naa Ashorkor has kicked started a campaign aimed at encouraging reading among children in Ghana.

The campaign, dubbed ‘Aspire to Bee”, is a spelling competition geared towards encouraging pupils to engage in productive extracurricular activities and most expand their vocabulary.

Speaking at the maiden edition of the campaign held at the Pokuase 1&2 Methodist School, the award-winning actress indicated that the initiative was as a result of her deep passion for hearing young children speak and express themselves in flawless English.

She revealed that her selection of Pokuase 1&2 Methodist School for the launch of the initiate was informed by a disturbing experience shared by one of her siblings during her time as a national service personnel at the school.

Recounting the experience, the actress who also doubles as the host of popular radio show “The Zone” on Starr 103.5FM, indicated that her sister noticed a disturbing trend in the way her pupils expressed themselves in English, citing composition difficulties the pupils faced in writing an apology letter as an example.

Naa Ashorkor said the story sparked a light bulb moment that ignited her passion in her to embark this campaign.

Addressing parents and pupils at the event, the Local Manager for the area, Very Rev. Kwame Amoah Mensah, expressed his gratitude towards Naa Ashorkor and hoped that the event would be one in the series of many other events that will help his pupils improve their English speaking skills.

He added that the initiative will go a long way to facilitate writing in both internal and external examinations.

After three competitive rounds consisting of spelling,forming  sentences and identifying common images, the winner, Eric Asare a pupil from the Pokuase 2 Methodist School, took home a Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary, 2 Enid Blyton story books, a collection of story books from  EPP Books, 20 Cowbell branded exercise books, a package consisting of a water bottle, shirt, hat and bag from donated by MTN Pulse, an MTN branded school bag, 3 packs of Special Drink and a box of cowbell products.

Helena Ekpe also from the Pokuase 2 Methodist School, who came in second took home a Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary, 3 story books donated by MTN, Enid Blyton story books, 10 Cowbell branded exercise books, a package consisting of a water bottle, shirt, hat and bag from donated by MTN Pulse, 2 packs of Special Drink and a box of cowbell products.

Josephine Yaotse a student of the Pokuase 1 Methodist School, who came in third took also took home a Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary, 2 storybooks, 5 Cowbell branded exercise books, a package consisting of a water bottle, shirt, hat and bag from donated by MTN Pulse, one pack of Special Drink and a box of cowbell products.

In an era where the reading culture amongst students of school going age is dwindling, efforts such as the “Aspire to Bee” initiative should be encouraged as a way of whipping up and inculcating the spirit of reading in children of school going age.

This initiative was sponsored by Cowbell, MTN Pulse, EPP Books, MTN Foundation, Special Drinks, Awake Mineral Water and Dreamoval Foundation.