Fiador Morkporkpor attempts 240-hour reading marathon to break world record and raise dyslexia awareness

Dyslexia remains a challenge for many young learners in Ghana, especially when parents are unaware of the condition. To draw attention to the issue, teacher and literacy advocate Fiador Morkporkpor, who has taught for more than a decade and is passionate about child literacy, has begun a 240-hour reading marathon at the National Children’s Library in Accra, seeking to break the Guinness World Record.

She aims to raise awareness, call on authorities to provide solutions, and push for the training of local language teachers to strengthen the teaching of Ghanaian languages in schools.

With years of classroom experience, Morkporkpor says she understands how dyslexia affects children and believes reading can be a powerful tool to address the challenge.

Her Readathon manager, Hedo Cynthia Mawutor, urged government and authorities to support the initiative.

“She is attempting the record to raise awareness of dyslexia and promote local languages. While the government is making efforts, more trained teachers are needed in classrooms. Parents, too, must help by speaking local languages at home, instead of relying only on English,” she explained.

Innocent Nkata, CEO of Saide/African Storybook, passed by to support and stressed that dyslexic children are not incapable but simply learn differently. He explained that many parents often mistake children’s struggle to read or learn as a sign of low intelligence.

“If a child is struggling to read and learn, people just think the child is not smart enough. But that comes from a lack of awareness that the child may actually be dealing with this particular condition,” he said.

He stressed that dyslexia is not a debilitating or creeping condition, but simply means that a child learns differently.

“You shouldn’t assume that because they are dyslexic, they are not intelligent. It just means they learn differently. And if parents can understand how such children learn, they can support them in a much better way,” he added.

According to him, raising awareness is crucial to help parents understand and support dyslexic children, rather than judging them unfairly.

Some supporters also shared their impressions, highlighting the importance of reading and calling on the public to support Morkporkpor in breaking the record.

By Bawa Musah

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