Accra, May 28, GNA - Thirty-five journalists at the weekend ended a two-day workshop on Education Reporting in Accra. The workshop was to strengthen the capacity of the media practitioners to enable them to cover the education sector more effectively and especially to prepare them for the coverage of the Third African International Conference on Early Childhood Development, scheduled for Monday, May 30 to June 3 in Accra.

The workshop was jointly organised by the Working Group on Communication for Education, the Association for the Development of Education in Africa, and the Ministry of Information. Resource persons, made of experts in early childhood development, communication experts, and others from the World Bank and other United Nations on Education and Children, took the participants through topics like "Coverage of Education in Ghana", "Strategy for Improving media coverage of Education", and "Incentive for Improving Media Coverage of Education in Africa", which also announced the African Education Journalism Award.

The need to improve the network of communicators for education in Ghana was also discussed.

The workshop also treated how to cover a major conference, sources of information on Childhood Development, in addition to discussions on the problems journalists face in their work. Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Deputy Minister of Information, who addressed the closing ceremony, reminded the journalists that their work would be measured through the quality of their reportage on issues related to early childhood care and development. She observed that the media had a role as a partner in early childhood development issues, and expressed the hope that the media would disseminate the right message from the conference. Mr Dave Agbenu, Education Editor of the "Ghanaian Times" on behalf the participants stated that they were poised to give off their best in the coverage of the Conference.

About 300 participants from 39 African countries, including Education, Health and Information, Women and Children Affairs Ministers, as well as experts, development partners, United Nations agencies, and non-governmental organisations would attend the conference. Apart from presentations, there would be workshops at the conference, which would be on the theme: "Moving Early Childhood Development Forward in Africa,"

The high profile attendance expected at the conference stems from the recognition of early childhood development as a key catalyst to the overall development of Africa.

It is also expected to draw increased political commitment to early childhood development in Africa, facilitate accelerated action at country levels and feed into other development processes.