Kumasi, June 28, GNA - A social worker has asked parents not to use poverty as an excuse to send their children into the streets to beg for alms or use them for child labour.

Miss Mercy Nketia, a Chief Welfare Officer of the Department of Social Welfare, said such acts constituted infringements on the rights of children for which parents could be sanctioned.

She was speaking on the topic: "Children Are Assets Of The Nation" at the close of a children's programme organised by the Asafo branch of the Church of Christ in Kumasi on Sunday.

The six-day programme was attended by children from Asafo, Buokrom and other branches of the Church around Lake Bosomtwe to interact and fraternise with one another.

The more than 800 children who participated in the programme took part in debates, lectures, drama, poetry recitals and singing. They also undertook an excursion to the Boti Falls and the Akosombo dam in the Eastern region.

Miss Nketia said the upkeep of children and the family rested with parents and not with the children.

She was also not happy with the situation where some parents still discriminated against girls when it comes to the education of their children and advised parents to give equal opportunity to their children irrespective of their sex.

In a message on behalf of the children, Master Danquah Acquah, a participant, appealed to churches to organise programmes that will sustain children's interest and zeal in Christianity. 28 June 04