A playwright and Poet, Mr. Oswald Okaitei has underscored the need for students to take poetry lessons seriously.
The author of many books including ‘TEARS and joy at 60’ and ‘The Sailors sail is over’ who described poetry as ‘a coil language’ said more sensitization was needed on the approach to the teaching of poems in schools.
While students learn poems for academic purposes or for examinations and not necessarily for its critical thinking abilities as explained by the renowned poet, Mr. Okaitei nevertheless stressed that poems help in critical thinking, analysis and memorization of students and pupils since some poems may be very simple but complex.
He was convinced that Ghanaians taking the study of poems seriously could change society.
“Ghanaians need to take poems seriously since it has the impetus to change society and the country as a whole,” he underscored.
He decried the absence of mechanisms to identify ‘good books’ in the open market for academic purposes or schools, a situation he blamed on the selfish interests of people and political considerations.
“Ghana has equally great writers as foreign writers but since there are no mechanisms in place to look out for those authors and their books, the foreign literary products appear to have overshadowed local content,” Mr. Okaitei complained.
The astute poet attributed the low interest of students in learning poems to the reading and learning of foreign books by Ghanaian students, explaining that since poetry is about imageries, learning something outside ones environment is difficult.
Mr. Okaitei was convinced that Ghana has great writers whose works if well patronized, will create more employment opportunities in the country.
World Poetry Day 2018 was celebrated on the 21st of March and was declared by UNESCO in 1999. Its purpose is to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world
The purpose of the day is also to promote the efforts of small publishers with regard to publishing poetry. The day also focuses on promoting a return to the oral tradition of poetry recitals, as well as strengthening the association between poetry and other forms of expression, such as dance, music, and painting.
The first World Poetry Day was held on March 21, 2000.
Source: Joyce Bedeley/ritefmonline.org/jbedeley9357@gmail.com
