[ 2014-09-30 ]

'Social media is affecting the English of students'- Ablakwa
Ghana's Deputy Minister of Education in charge of
Tertiary Education, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah has
stated that the advent of social media is
negatively affecting the writing and speaking of
English language among students in the country,
especially those in the Senior High School (SHS)
level.

According to Mr. Ablakwah, even though social
media has been very helpful when it comes to
communication among friends and families, students
are transferring their ways of writing on social
media platforms into the examination rooms and the
way they speak as well.

The North Tongu legislator said this when he
officially launched a National Essay Competition
instituted by the UBA Foundation, the Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of the United Bank
for Africa (UBA) in Accra .

He noted that English and Mathematics subjects are
the major challenges in examination among
students, reiterating that it is now easy and
common to see most students using short-hands
during examination.

Applauding UBA for initiating the competition
geared towards providing Senior High School
students in Ghana a stage to demonstrate their
writing and speaking skills, Mr Ablakwah called on
Ghanaians and corporate institutions to assist the
government in lifting the image of the educational
sector in the country.

The minister noted that last year the government
spent GHc5.7 billion in the educational sector,
which represented 6.1% of the country's gross
domestic product (GDP).

“Ghana has already achieved the UNESCO
educational record of 6% and that is a plus for us
as a country,” said the minister.

Mr. Ablakwa said last year, government increased
the enrolment at the basic education sector to
about 813,000.

He stated that there are 839 secondary schools
with about 400,000 students across the country and
for that matter hoped the competition will be free
and fair, and give equal opportunity to every
applicant.

The increased usage of social networking websites
has become an international phenomenon in the past
several years. What started out as a hobby for
some computer literates has become a social norm
and way of life for people from all over the
world. This, according to many educationists, has
however had its own effect on the English language
usage of users as many are deviating from
correct spelling and grammar usage.

According to a 2013 survey conducted by social
media monitoring company, Brandwatch, social
networks have transformed modern day English, with
Twitter presenting the greatest threat. Per the
survey, total of 0.56 per cent of words posted on
the micro-blogging site were either misspelt or
unofficial.

The essay competition is a follow up on the Real
Africa initiative of the UBA Foundation, which
involved giving out literature books to secondary
school students to help rekindle the dwindling
reading culture among the youth in Africa.

The foundation has stated that entries for the
competition have been open and the closing date
for entries is 31st October, 2014.

The Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) of UBA Foundation, Madam Ijeoma Aso
, announced that the winner of the competition
will take home GHc17,700.00.

The first runners-up and the second runners-up
will take away GHc12,390.00 and GHc7,080.00
respectively. Also the first 10 students together
with the winners will get laptops each.

She stated that students who are willing to take
part in the competition must attach photocopies of
their birth certificates or photocopies of
international passport data page, to get into the
competition.

The applicants are supposed to summit handwritten
essay of not more than 750 words, on the topic,
'Is Social Media a safe place to make friends'? ,
should be submitted along with their complete
contact information, (school name & address,
residential address, phone number and email
address).

The judges made up of professors, are expected to
name the winners in December, 2014. Out of the
number of entries received, 12 finalists will be
announced in early November, 2014 and out of the
12 the best three will be named.

Prior to announcing the best three, the 12
finalists will be camped in Accra to defend their
essay to a high panel.

Source - Daily Express

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