Ms Betty Busumtwi-Sam, Deputy Western Regional Minister, on Saturday called on pre-school teachers and caregivers to engage children in developmentally appropriate practices to enable them develop their aptitude for practical vocations.
She made the call at the graduation of 52 caregivers of Early Child Development Centres (ECDC) from the Western Region after four months
training by the Department of Social Welfare at Takoradi.
The ceremony was under the theme "Children, Our Hope for the Future". Ms. Busumtwi-Sam said this would also unearth the potentials of
children who are assumed to have little potential for theoretical work to develop themselves.
She said the curriculum of schools should be necessarily be revised to engage children in practical vocations like engineering, building and construction, moulding and other artistic related programmes.
Ms. Busumtwi-Sam said parents also had a role in ensuring that their children were educated by taking them to school and helping with their studies.
She advised to interact with their children regularly to enable them know whether they were making progress at school.
"I would plead with parents amongst us to make sure that their children are regular at school and do not spend their school time hawking", she said.
Ms. Busumtwi-Sam expressed concern that some children are engaged in internet fraud popularly known as "Sakawa" saying, even children below 15
years are either victims of "Sakawa" or are fully involved in defrauding innocent foreigners.
She said the time has come for measures to be put in place to ensure that teachers were well motivated to work competently.
In an address, Mr. Erasmus Asiedu, Programme Head for Child Right, Promotion and Protection at Western Regional Office of the Department of
Social Welfare, said the Children's Act places responsibility on the department to ensure good practices at ECDCs which have to operate according to the rules and regulations outlined in the law.
He said the law mandates the Department of Social Welfare to close down any centre that defaults in its obligations.
Mr. Asiedu urged ECDCs to play their expected roles to develop children for the future adding, the training was organized by the department in collaboration with the Western Regional Association of Day Care Centres
Operators.