Cape Coast, Dec. 23, GNA - A representative of UNICEF, Mr. Madeez Ada= mu Issah, has stressed the need for kindergarten teachers to have the experience and knowledge to enable them to handle the children well. He expressed regret that most often volunteers who are engaged to teac= h at the kindergarten level were untrained and lacked basic knowledge. "Kindergartens must be fully supported because it is very crucial to the full development of the child," he said.

Mr. Issah said this on Tuesday at a day's workshop organized by th= e Department of Children (DOC) in collaboration with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) on Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) for=

key policy implementers in the Central Region.

The participants were drawn from the Ministries of Education (GES= ), Health, Manpower Development and Employment and the Department of Social welfare. He said studies had shown that 68% of children who go through kindergarten do much better academically and socially and therefore paren= ts should ensure that they send their children there.

The acting Regional Director of the DOC, Mr. David Ehuron Amoah, s= aid that involving communities and families of children, as well as promoting=

income generating activities for parents, was a sure way of promoting successful ECCD in the country. In terms of capacity building for the kindergarten teachers, Mr. Amo= ah said there was a four-year degree programme at the University of Educatio= n, Winneba (UEW) and urged teachers to avail themselves for further training= to

upgrade themselves. He said the association of private ECCD practitioners had so far trai= ned 84 child care attendants on ECCD/ HIV issues in the region. 23 Dec 09