Give special attention to handicapped children, attendants urged

Koforidua, Oct. 15, GNA - The Eastern Regional Minister, Dr Francis Osafo-Mensah, has entreated attendants of pre-schools to accord special attention to those with physical disabilities and those, who were disadvantaged in any way.

He asked them to endeavour to serve as role models by setting good behavioural patterns for the children to emulate and be firm in discouraging bad habits, such as the use of derogatory and profane languages.

The call was contained in speech read on his behalf at the graduation ceremony for 44 trained attendants organized by the Department of Social Welfare at Koforidua on Thursday. The Ministry of Employment and Manpower Development sponsored the three-month training course, the 5th in a series, for participants drawn from all the districts in the region.

Dr Osafo-Mensah urged the attendants to improve upon the knowledge and skills they had acquired to be able to cope with the high demand for those who could care for children in the society.

The Eastern Regional Director of Social Welfare, Ms Grace Debrah urged proprietors of day-care centres to employ trained caregivers to ensure that the laudable aim of preparing children both intellectually and socially in their formative years was achieved.

She, therefore, urged proprietors to establish better conditions of service for the caregivers to motivate them to give of their best towards the realization of that goal.

Ms Debrah said the move was to create jobs for the youth and also to ensure that all stakeholders in quality education, from the pre-school level, were competent.

She advised the graduates to make the security of the children paramount, saying, "tolerate every child and never leave the centre until the last child had left."