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International Literacy Day is celebrated in September globally to raise awareness and remind people of the importance of literacy as a matter of dignity and human rights.

However, the 2019 edition has been marked with an urgent call to pay attention to our local languages, since some of them are in limbo and been lost to the adoption of foreign languages.

Speaking at the function, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, called on Ghanaians to regard our local languages as equally important as well as the promotion of culture is a concern.

Emphasizing the important role language plays, he urged the Ghana Education Service (GES) to consider including the study of the indigenous languages in the educational curriculum as it was formerly.

Moreover, he noted that being bilingual is equally important and thus, advocated on the need to learn other languages in addition to our mother tongue in order to relate well with other foreign countries in terms of communication.

The event was celebrated with 'Engage African Now', an NGO noted for its meaningful contributions to society in terms of championing for adult education, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Non Formal Education (NFED) Unit and speaking to the Country Director for Engage African Now, Mrs. Cecilia Amankwaah, she also played emphasis on attaching importance to our local language so it doesn’t vanish.

According to her, research conducted has shown that out of the 6,000 recognized languages spoken worldwide, 2,000 of these languages are on the verge of collapsing which attention needs to be paid to, to secure our own and prevent disaapearing.

The Regional Director of the Non-Formal Education (NFED), Mr. Stephen Gyamfi also called on the government for logistical support to enable them to deliver on their mandate effectively.