The Government of Japan has provided the Birim South District Assembly in the Eastern Region with a grant of One hundred and three thousand Five hundred and fifty-one U.S dollars for the improvement of educational facilities for Adinkro School Complex, in Accra yesterday.
This is under the Japanese Grant Assistance for Grassroots and Human Security Projects (GGHSP) scheme.
The Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Mr. Keiichi Katakami who presented the grant said that the Grassroots and Human Security Project is one of Japan’s ODA Scheme that responds to local community needs in developing countries.
The Ambassador disclosed that Adinkrom Primary School block was constructed over twenty years ago out of mud.
“Since its establishment, no maintaince activity has been done on this only educational infrastructure in the community, this has resulted in a dilapidated structure; obviously unsafe and unsuitable for proper academic activities”, he added.
“Improving the quality of education amongst the youth of Adinkrom and its surrounding communities will better prepare them for their future ahead”, he stressed.
He said that since the GGHSP began in Ghana in 1989, the Government of Japan has funded a total of two hundred and twenty-four projects nationwide.
The Ambassador Mr. Keiichi Katakami said that education is a key foundation for social development, adding that education provides requisite conditions for every individual to enhance his or her own economic ability.
“The Government of Japan supports initiatives under primary education so the children of Ghana can obtain the tools they need to contribute actively to the growth of this country”, he said.
He urged the Birim South District Assembly to ensure that the project is successfully completed to be able to contribute to the education and development of the youth in the district.
The District Chief Executive of Birim South, Honorable Nana Baffour Mensah-Takyi, receiving the grant, expressed appreciation to the Japan Embassy for the kind gesture done the Birim District.
“I want to commend the Embassy of Japan for the numerous assistance they have provided so far for the Government of Ghana and the Birim South District in particular.I am convinced that certainly, this will not be the last project the Embassy will provide for the District.
He said that the Assembly and the community are prepared to maintain the facility that would be provided.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
SFP TO FEED 1,400,000 PUPILS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The Deputy National Co-ordinator of the School Feeding Programme (SFP), Mr. Francis Yaw Gyarko has said that the SFP will feed 1,400,000 pupils in the primary and kindergarten nationwide next academic year.
Speaking to the Times on Monday, Mr. Yaw Gyarko said that the SFP has been able to feed 656,000 children in the kindergarten and primary schools so far and the SFP authorities and the government has planned to extend the number next academic year in order to reach their target of feeding all the children in the Kindergarten and primary schools in the country.
“About 25% of public schools have been covered so far and it is the target of the School Feeding Programme to feed all the children in the primary and kindergarten schools in the country”, he said.
He said that the programme was meant to feed poor and vulnerable children in public schools especially those in the rural areas.
“The programme was also meant to increase enrolment of children into the public schools and reduce poverty in the rural areas”, he added.
Mr. Gyarko also said that the programme will help boost domestic agriculture in the sense that foods produce in the country will be used to feed the children, saying that this will enable local farmers to get enough capital to farm and also discourage the importation of foreign foods into the country.
Answering a question on whether the School Feeding Programme will be extend to the Junior High School, Mr. Gyarko said that the target of feeding all primary and kindergarten school children has not been achieved, thus, the Programme cannot feed the JHS pupils until it has been able to reach its target.
Speaking to the Times on Monday, Mr. Yaw Gyarko said that the SFP has been able to feed 656,000 children in the kindergarten and primary schools so far and the SFP authorities and the government has planned to extend the number next academic year in order to reach their target of feeding all the children in the Kindergarten and primary schools in the country.
“About 25% of public schools have been covered so far and it is the target of the School Feeding Programme to feed all the children in the primary and kindergarten schools in the country”, he said.
He said that the programme was meant to feed poor and vulnerable children in public schools especially those in the rural areas.
“The programme was also meant to increase enrolment of children into the public schools and reduce poverty in the rural areas”, he added.
Mr. Gyarko also said that the programme will help boost domestic agriculture in the sense that foods produce in the country will be used to feed the children, saying that this will enable local farmers to get enough capital to farm and also discourage the importation of foreign foods into the country.
Answering a question on whether the School Feeding Programme will be extend to the Junior High School, Mr. Gyarko said that the target of feeding all primary and kindergarten school children has not been achieved, thus, the Programme cannot feed the JHS pupils until it has been able to reach its target.
Friday, August 27, 2010
CHILD LABOUR IN GHANA, AN ISSUE OF CONCERN....MAKE GHANA A BEAUTIFUL PLACE FOR A CHILD TO LIVE IN
Child labour is a work that harms children’s health or keeps them from attending school.
These activities are beyond the reach of statistical survey but the numbers likely to be over 10 million.
Child labour is a widespread, growing problem in the developing world. About 250 million of the world’s children work, nearly half of them work full-time. Some children regularly participate in the labour force to earn a living or supplement household income, and this prevents children from participating in schools.
According to the 1992 data for Ghana, one girl in three and one boy in four does not attend school. This is mostly found in the rural areas where these children are used to work on farms.
Child labour in Africa, especially Ghana, is unpaid work in family agricultural enterprise. Of the 28% of children engaged in child labour, more than two-third are in school.
The darkest category of child labour relates to those children caught up in criminal activities such as prostitution, military enrolment, slavery such as bond labour or child trafficking which involve the removal of child from its home, often involving deception and payment for a wide range of exploitative purpose.
Childhood is the most innocent stage in human life. It is that phase of life where a child is free from all the tensions, fun-loving, play and learns new things and is the sweetheart of all family members. But this is only one side of the story. The other side is full of tensions and burden. Here the innocent child is not the sweetheart of the family, instead he or she is an earning machine, working entire day in order to satisfy the needs and wants of his or her family.
Child labour not only causes damage to a child physical and mental health but also deprive of his or her basic right to education, development and freedom.
UNICEF report says that 80% of girls working as domestic servant are between the ages of 10-14 years.
The high cost of schooling and poor quality and irrelevance of education has also pushed many children into work.
Family characteristics play a big role in the child decision to work or to go to school. The father’s education has a significant negative effect on child labour. The effect is stronger on girls than boys so adult literacy could indirectly reduce the amount of child labour.
To improve human capital and reduce the incidence of child labour in Ghana, the country’s school system should reduce families schooling cost, adapt to the constraint on schooling in rural areas, where most children must work at least part-time, more relevant to the needs of labour market.
If these things are done, more families may decide that schooling is available as opposed to child labour for their children.
The situation of child labour is worse in our rural areas. Children aged less than 8 are taken to the farm to weed a plot of land that even an elderly one may find it difficult to weed. Some carry very heavy loads of fire-wood to their houses after hard day’s work.
When a child complains about this he or she will be beaten severely and would be denied of food for some number of days.
In the urban centers, children are mostly found in traffic, selling to feed themselves and their families. Some of these children are sometimes being knocked-down by cars.
When you visit the fishing communities, you often see children as young as 9 years being taught how to fish instead of going to school. These children either go fishing with their fathers or wait to carry the fish that will be caught.
Poverty is the main cause of child labour in the country. It is observed that poor families have more number of children, so it becomes difficult for them to survive on the income of only one family which is also quite less. So they make their small children source of income. They make their children work in factories, shops, even selling items on the streets.
Some parents even carry infants to the streets to earn money from begging. There are very bad effects of child labour for our society, which forces some children to steal things from others in order to satisfy their living, many small girls are also made to indulge in prostitution.
It is time to eliminate bad practices from our society. The general public, individuals and organizations should collaborate with the government to put a stop to child labour in the country.
Parents who force their children to engage in practices like selling on the streets should be arrested and prosecuted. Those who engage in child trafficking must be brought to the law court.
Let’s all come together to fight against child labour by helping children and imparting education among that part of society from where majority of the child labour comes.
Poor families should be given knowledge about family planning so that they are not burdened by children. It would be advisable not to keep small children at home for taking domestic help in daily househood chores.
Let us all take some step in this direction so that we can bring smiles to many faces and make this world a beautiful place for a child to live in.
These activities are beyond the reach of statistical survey but the numbers likely to be over 10 million.
Child labour is a widespread, growing problem in the developing world. About 250 million of the world’s children work, nearly half of them work full-time. Some children regularly participate in the labour force to earn a living or supplement household income, and this prevents children from participating in schools.
According to the 1992 data for Ghana, one girl in three and one boy in four does not attend school. This is mostly found in the rural areas where these children are used to work on farms.
Child labour in Africa, especially Ghana, is unpaid work in family agricultural enterprise. Of the 28% of children engaged in child labour, more than two-third are in school.
The darkest category of child labour relates to those children caught up in criminal activities such as prostitution, military enrolment, slavery such as bond labour or child trafficking which involve the removal of child from its home, often involving deception and payment for a wide range of exploitative purpose.
Childhood is the most innocent stage in human life. It is that phase of life where a child is free from all the tensions, fun-loving, play and learns new things and is the sweetheart of all family members. But this is only one side of the story. The other side is full of tensions and burden. Here the innocent child is not the sweetheart of the family, instead he or she is an earning machine, working entire day in order to satisfy the needs and wants of his or her family.
Child labour not only causes damage to a child physical and mental health but also deprive of his or her basic right to education, development and freedom.
UNICEF report says that 80% of girls working as domestic servant are between the ages of 10-14 years.
The high cost of schooling and poor quality and irrelevance of education has also pushed many children into work.
Family characteristics play a big role in the child decision to work or to go to school. The father’s education has a significant negative effect on child labour. The effect is stronger on girls than boys so adult literacy could indirectly reduce the amount of child labour.
To improve human capital and reduce the incidence of child labour in Ghana, the country’s school system should reduce families schooling cost, adapt to the constraint on schooling in rural areas, where most children must work at least part-time, more relevant to the needs of labour market.
If these things are done, more families may decide that schooling is available as opposed to child labour for their children.
The situation of child labour is worse in our rural areas. Children aged less than 8 are taken to the farm to weed a plot of land that even an elderly one may find it difficult to weed. Some carry very heavy loads of fire-wood to their houses after hard day’s work.
When a child complains about this he or she will be beaten severely and would be denied of food for some number of days.
In the urban centers, children are mostly found in traffic, selling to feed themselves and their families. Some of these children are sometimes being knocked-down by cars.
When you visit the fishing communities, you often see children as young as 9 years being taught how to fish instead of going to school. These children either go fishing with their fathers or wait to carry the fish that will be caught.
Poverty is the main cause of child labour in the country. It is observed that poor families have more number of children, so it becomes difficult for them to survive on the income of only one family which is also quite less. So they make their small children source of income. They make their children work in factories, shops, even selling items on the streets.
Some parents even carry infants to the streets to earn money from begging. There are very bad effects of child labour for our society, which forces some children to steal things from others in order to satisfy their living, many small girls are also made to indulge in prostitution.
It is time to eliminate bad practices from our society. The general public, individuals and organizations should collaborate with the government to put a stop to child labour in the country.
Parents who force their children to engage in practices like selling on the streets should be arrested and prosecuted. Those who engage in child trafficking must be brought to the law court.
Let’s all come together to fight against child labour by helping children and imparting education among that part of society from where majority of the child labour comes.
Poor families should be given knowledge about family planning so that they are not burdened by children. It would be advisable not to keep small children at home for taking domestic help in daily househood chores.
Let us all take some step in this direction so that we can bring smiles to many faces and make this world a beautiful place for a child to live in.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
CHILD LABOUR IN GHANA....WHO CARES?
Childhood is the most innocent stage in a human life. It is that phase of life where a child is free from all the tensions, fun-loving, play and learn new things, and is the sweetheart of all family members.
But this is only one side of the story.The other side is full of tensions and burden.Here the innocent child is not the sweetheart of the family, instead he is the earning machine working the entire day in order to satisfy the needs and wants of his or her family.
Child labour not only causes damage to a child physical health but also keep him deprive of his right to education, development and freedom.
But this is only one side of the story.The other side is full of tensions and burden.Here the innocent child is not the sweetheart of the family, instead he is the earning machine working the entire day in order to satisfy the needs and wants of his or her family.
Child labour not only causes damage to a child physical health but also keep him deprive of his right to education, development and freedom.
Monday, August 23, 2010
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