Mr Justice Joe Appiah, Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma North Constituency, has advised parents to invest in the education of their wards to make them competitive on the job market in future.

He said this during the Sixth Graduation and Awards Ceremony of the Christ Union Academy in Accra under the theme: “Child Kidnapping, a New Menace in the Society.”

Mr Appiah said giving children a strong foundation at the basic level was very important if they were to excel in their academic endeavours.

He praised the proprietor of the school, Mr Emmanuel Kpetor, for investing heavily in putting up the school and urged teachers to be committed to their job.

He said in view of the economic challenges confronting the nation, parents should be prepared to make a lot of sacrifices in children's education to enable them to grow to be responsible citizens to their families and the society at large.

Touching on the theme, Mr Frederick Wellington, a Research Officer at United Cerebral Palsy, Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organisation, who was the Guest Speaker, said one way of curbing child kidnapping, which had become a menace in the society, was vigilance and effective community policing.

He cautioned the children to always move or play in groups and quickly run away should anyone in a vehicle stop and offer to give them a lift.

Mr Francis Joe Afuckah, Headmaster of the school, said founded in 2000 with 47 pupils and four teachers, the school currently had 700 pupils and students from the crèche to Junior High School level in addition to 30 teaching staff including trained and graduate teachers.

Mr Afuckah said since the school started writing the Basic Education Certificate Examinations in 2007, it had been scoring 100 per cent passes and had all the 16 students presented in 2009 getting aggregate 06.

He appealed to parents and guardians to make prompt payment of school fees, which, he said, was a major challenge confronting the school.

He urged parents to ensure that the homework of children were done and pledged that with their co-operation, management and teachers of the school would continue to do their best for the children.