President's end of year party for children held

President John Agyekum Kufuor on Monday called on Ghanaians, to place the needs of children first in their daily operations.

Children must be motivated and encouraged to develop in a friendly environment while enjoying their fundamental human rights, he said in an address read for him at this years' President's End of year party for 500 children from the Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Area at Shama in the Western Region.

"Though economic constraints exist, we would not sacrifice the well being of the child" he said and advised parents to ensure that laws on child-labour, maintenance and fostering, were strictly obeyed and promoted in the community in which they live.

President Kufuor said the neglect of children by parents, children hawking along the streets coupled with sexual and moral abuse must cease. He observed that many children nationwide indulged in drug abuse, smoking of cigarettes, teenage pregnancy, abortion and early sex and called on all adults to help to stop them.

These habits the President noted, "apart from destroying your future, could ruin your family as well". President Kufuor said Parliament would soon pass a law on early childhood development, to ensure that more children attended pre-school before they began formal education.

Mrs Angelina Baiden-Amissah, Member of Parliament for Shama, advised the children to study hard and prove their worth in the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) since "your results apart from being uncompetitive, also degrades the name of your school".

She urged them to stop stealing and roaming about aimlessly during the fishing season.

Mr Philip K. Nkrumah, Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Chief Executive, called on parents to check the upbringing of their children and ensure that their welfare was secured.

"Standards of education are low in the Metropolis and this can be reversed if parents provide their educational needs and parental care, he said. He challenged the children to be humble, hardworking and obedient in their daily endeavours.