Parents urged to adopt family planning methods

Sekondi, April 29,GNA-Mrs Mary Dei-Awuku, head of the Street Children Project, has repeated the call on parents to adopt family planning methods to enable them to reduce and space childbirth to ensure the proper care of their children.

She noted that the lukewarm attitude of married couples towards family planning and increasing family sizes, had contributed to the rising cases of street children and child neglect in the country. Mrs Dei-Awuku was speaking at the graduation of 15 trainees of the DEKMOS Catering and Fashion Home in Sekondi on Thursday.

She urged parents to seek the welfare of their children instead of using poverty as an excuse to deny them education, health care, clothing, balanced diet and other necessities of life. Mrs Dei-Awuku said: "engaging children in hazardous work is also a violation of the child's rights".

She gave the hint that over 3,000 street children had been trained under the Street Children Project and that the entire exercise was estimated to cost 2.3 million United States Dollars.

Madam Sophia Horner-Sam, Deputy Western Regional Minister, advised the trainees to channel the newly acquired skills into productive ventures. She said: "parents should prevent their children from trading, sleeping and living on the streets because they can easily abuse drugs, become armed robbers and prostitutes and contract HIV/AIDS."

Mr. Benjamin Otoo, Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Director of the Department of Social Welfare, announced that 2.6 billion cedis had been spent on the training of street children in the Sekondi-Takoradi area. Mrs Oriphel Baisie, Executive Director of DEKMOS, said the trainees had received skills that could assist them to contribute to their welfare and national development.

She advised children to avoid pre-marital sex and the desire to get money quick adding that they should learn hard to enable them to pass their examinations to justify the huge amount being spent on them by their parents and the government.