Poor implementation of JSS concept has produced street children

Kumasi, July 21, GNA- Neglect Foundation, an Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) engaged in skill training for street children, has said the ineffective way the Junior Secondary School (JSS) concept was implemented was one of the causes of street children.

Mr George Baffour Owusu-Afriyie, Executive Director of the Foundation, said if all the components of the JSS concept were fully implemented, "the street children, most of whom are JSS graduates, will not have found themselves roaming the streets."

He said the workshop component of the JSS was designed to provide technical and vocational skills training for students but its implementation was neglected.

Mr Owusu-Afriyie was addressing an Advocacy Forum on the Community Poverty Reduction Programme (CPRP)-Street Children project in Kumasi on Sunday.

The forum was organised by the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) and the Foundation.

He suggested to the government to take a second look at the JSS system with the view to ensuring that well-equipped workshops were established and attached to all Junior Secondary Schools. "This approach will help to reduce or entirely bring to a halt the problem of street children," he said.

Dr Edward Prempeh, Presiding Member of the KMA, said as part of its programme to help the street children, the KMA was in link with the Department of Town and Country Planning to help provide a site where the children could set up their workshops after skill training.