GHEA asked to fashion out improved teaching of home economics

Koforidua, Mar. 21, GNA - The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Yaw Barimah, has called on the Ghana Home Economics Association (GHEA) to fashion out strategies towards improved teaching and learning of the subject to achieve poverty reduction and sustainable quality development.

He observed that improved knowledge in home management skills was vital for the country in its efforts to enhance effective human resource development as envisioned by the government.

The call was contained in a keynote address read on his behalf at the celebration of the World Home Economics Day at Koforidua on Monday. The two-day celebration by the GHEA was under the theme: "Home economics supporting sustainable development and quality of life for all."

He regretted that as a result of the inadequate knowledge by most families on what to eat, when to eat and how to eat, the country was now faced with an alarming increase in the prevalence of dietary-related diseases such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension leading to premature deaths.

To address the situation, the Minister urged the GHEA to embark on an intensive education to orientate the people on balance diet so as to improve the health status of individuals and families. Mr Barimah also charged the Food and Drugs Board to intensify surveillance on all foods and food supplements imported into the country to ensure whether they were of good quality to help protect consumers.

The National President of the GHEA, Mrs Esther Amoah, said the theme for the celebration was to run till 2008, during which the association would focus on promoting national development, which was socially desirable, economically viable and ecologically sustainable. According to her, the knowledge of the main disciplines of home economics combine to enhance holistic development of the physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual well-being of individuals and families.

Mrs Amoah said the International Federation of Home Economics' (IFHE) choice of the theme for the celebration was to help promote the aims of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2015) to help find effective solutions to issues involving health, poverty, water, energy and consumption.

She said towards this end, the GHEA had entered into a collaborative project with the Nestle Ghana Limited on consumer education focusing on nutrition, food security and sanitation for students, workers and market women.

The Head of Nestle's Consumer Service, Ms Babah Alargi, said her company was not only interested in the production of goods and services but also ensuring the satisfaction that one could get in terms of nutrition and good health from the products.

The Eastern Regional chairperson of the GHEA, Mrs Beatrice Boateng-Sampong, in a welcoming address, stressed the need for the nation to emphasise on training children on proper management of the resources available to them and to develop proper relations with each other for a happy society.

Prizes were distributed to winners of a quiz competition contested by about a dozen second-cycle schools drawn from the Eastern Region.