Kindergarten children conduct affairs at Shama Independence Parade

Shama, March 7, GNA - The Shama District held the 53rd Independence Anniversary Parade, at the Methodist Park at Shama in the Western Region with kindergarten children drawn from the various public nursery schools performing all the activities.

The children, both girls and boys, dressed in traditional kente and smock said the opening and closing prayers, vote of thanks and performed musical and choreography shows to the admiration of the audience. They included traditional rulers, officers of the Security Agencies, educationists and the MP for Shama, Mr Gabriel Asirifi. Madam Emelia Arthur, the Shama District Chief Executive, (DCE) smartly dressed in her kente, took the salute mounted by 720 school children drawn from the public and private first and second educational institutions in the district.

In an address, Madam Arthur called on opinion leaders, parents and the communities to contribute their quota towards building formidable human resource base by investing in them, which would go a long way to develop the district.

She expressed worry that the district recorded 572 teenage pregnancies in 2009, an indication that supervision over the youth was weak, and entreated the parents and guardians to strictly monitor their children so that they do not become liabilities on the families and district. The DCE was equally not happy that the Shama placed 16th out of the 17 districts in the Western Region in last year's Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). She described the 70 percent failure rate as unacceptable.

To reverse the trend, she said the assembly had implemented a number of measures including organizing educational forums for stakeholders on the importance of education, workshops on specific subjects for teachers as well as interaction with parents and school management teams to collate views on their problems and frustrations.

To motivate the students to learn harder, she said, the assembly planned instituting a scholarship scheme for those who obtain between aggregate six and nine, to continue their education to the highest level. To kick off the scheme, two Senior High School students, Ms Jennifer Benyin and Master Isaac Ayepah who performed very well in the BECE were given cash donations at the parade.

On employment, Madam Arthur said about 380 youth had been employed under the National Youth and Employment Programme while an additional 55 were being selected to benefit from other areas such Hair Dressing, Information Communication Technology the Security Services components. Madam Florence Inkoom, Shama District Director of Education, urged parents and guardians to help their children to develop their God-given talents to promote themselves and society by disciplining them. She noted that children in the district spent too much time at video centres and funerals and appealed to the adults to check the practice which could undermine academic performance.

Mr Gabriel Asirifi, MP for Shama, called for concerted efforts of teachers and parents to give quality education to the children who should also commit to serious studies to enhance their future.