Government’s interventions

Koforidua, Dec 16, GNA -The Eastern Regional Multi sector

committee on Children has expressed worry that despite the many

interventions by government to enable all children to have access to

education, many of them are still out of school in the region.

The committee said with the implementation of the

capitation grant, school feeding, free school uniforms and exercise

books to public schools, no child should be prevented by any reason

from going to school at least having basic education.

Reports have shown that many children in the region between

the ages of seven to 16 years and supposed to be in school are

mostly found selling or doing menial jobs such as washing plates at

bars, carrying loads at the markets and selling of goods ranging from

water to coconut during class hours.

The committee has therefore put a number of measures including

sensitization durbars in the rural communities to create awareness

among parents on the need to send their children to school.

This came to light at the last quarter meeting of the members of

the committee.

Membership of the committee include representatives from the Commission on

Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Domestic Violence

and Victim Support Unit, Ghana Education Service (GES), Social

Welfare, Department of Community Development, Ghana Journalists

Association (GJA) and traditional authorities.

Mr Anthony Dontoh, the Regional Director of the Department of

Children, said the committee over the years had noticed that many

children were out of school and their preliminary investigations revealed parents, for no reason, prevented their children from

going to school and rather made them to help them in the market or

on the farms.

He said the committee now had to liaise with the stakeholders to

ensure that the right of all children to be in school is upheld for the

realization of the Millennium Development Goals and urged members

to report any child seen loitering during school hours for appropriate action.

Madam Patience Salu, a Programs Officer from the World Vision

International (WVI), said in some communities there were empty

classrooms whiles children who are supposed to go to school would

be doing something else and stressed the need for parents to be

interested in their wards education.

She said the WVI had implemented many measures including

community sensitization and awareness on the importance of

education and even provided school materials to communities where

the children were vulnerable to upscale the number of school

enrolment in the communities.

Mr Kofi Adade Debrah, the Eastern Regional Coordinator of Plan

Ghana, said many children in the basic schools had been offered

scholarships to the tune of GHC 90,000 this year by the organization

in the area to ensure that all children had access to education.

He said that gesture was aimed at helping the government to meet

the MDG’s that required that every child by 2015 should have at least

basic education and pledged to support the committee in its resolve to

ensure that all children go to school.