Prioritise discipline in nurturing children - Aliu

Accra, May 30, GNA - Vice President Aliu Mahama has urged African educators to revamp the cultural values of discipline in tandem with modern ones and prioritise them in the nurturing of children in all spheres of their lives.

"...Our development as a nation depends on crafting a disciplined society, at the core of which should be disciplined youth and children," the Vice President observed. "At national, family, community and individual levels, let us make the inculcation of discipline in our children and youth a crusade of urgency."

Vice President Mahama was addressing a dinner hosted in honour of African Ministers attending the Third African International Conference on Early Childhood Development, on Thursday night. Thirty-nine African countries, 26 African Ministers, representatives from the World Bank, United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other UN Bodies are attending the conference.

Vice President Mahama said governments should also strive to promote good governance, which would promote a disciplined society saying children stood to benefit most from such situations. The Vice President noted that most African countries, including Ghana, were eager to address the plight and challenges that impeded the healthy development of children but were constrained by financial and technical resources.

He, therefore, appealed for assistance from international communities to support efforts aimed at giving African children the requisite training and resources to grow into responsible adults. Vice President Mahama challenged the participants to identify practical strategies that would facilitate the mobilisation of resources to improve the well being of African children. The five-day conference, which began on Monday, is under the theme: "Moving Early Childhood Development Forward in Africa." It aims at finding effective caring practices within the family and community; ensuring access and use of quality basic services; and creating supportive policy environment for children from conception to age eight.