Source: Gershon K.Ladzekpo & Francis P. Ankrah (Esq.)

The Department of Languages on 15th April, 2025 held a viva voce session for six groups of Level 300 students taking the ECL353 Children’s Literature course to present and defend their projects to a panel of three judges led by Francis P. Ankrah, Registrar, with Mr. Eric Sackey, Assistant Lecturer, and Mr. Vincent Bannor, Teaching Assistant. The event was chaired by Dr. Nana Osei Yaw, Vice Principal of the College.

Mr. Gershon Kofi Ladzekpo, Head of the Department of Languages who organized the event said he had conceptualized the idea to introduce design, development and production of quality Supplementary Reading Materials for upper primary level into the course work, in his quest to make the course practical. He added that after the teacher trainees were taken through the theory which bordered on concepts in Children’s Literature and the qualities of Children’s Literature materials, the trainees were put in groups to design, develop and produce supplementary reading materials to be assessed as part of their continuous assessment for the course.
The viva voce event was to enable the groups present their final works on drama, poetry, and prose suitable for upper primary level. He said this was the third successive time that the trainees undertaking the course had been given such projects. He mentioned that apart from the Continuous Assessment scores to be earned, the event also aimed at helping the trainees to develop the skills in writing books in the future.

Dr. Nana Osei Yaw, the Chairman was pleased with the arrangement and encouraged the trainees to take the exercise seriously, since it would create more avenues for them in the near future. He thanked the trainees for their comportment and advised them on ways they could get sponsorships from their districts, members of parliaments, and other non-governmental organizations in producing more books in the future.

The Chief Judge, Francis P. Ankrah, Esq congratulated the trainees for achieving such a milestone in their educational life. He briefed the trainees on the rubrics for scoring the works, which included the reasons for selecting the work’s title, background information; features unique to children’s literature including choice of illustrations, font type and sizes; and fluency in oral presentation of the work. The other judges also congratulated the trainees and encouraged them to take the exercise further since it would be an avenue to make additional income.

Each group presented for 15 minutes, and stayed on to answer follow-up questions for up to twenty minutes.
The event ended with the vote-of-thanks delivered by Miss Erica Ahu, the Course Representative for Level 300 Primary Education Class. On behalf of her colleagues, she expressed their joy for the skill set they were developing, and promised that they would continue to take it to the highest level.