Accra, Feb 20, GNA - Mr Ato Essuman, Chief Director of the Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES), on Saturday said meeting the physical needs of children and providing them with a conducive environment to stimulate their desire to face the challenges of their growth is the basic responsibility of the home.

He said the home is where it all begins and parents and family members have the onerous duty to lay the right foundation necessary for the growth of their children.

Mr Essuman, who was speaking at the launch of the 15th Anniversary celebration of Mount Olivet Methodist School at Dansoman, a suburb of Accra. He said the language used in the home, the life styles they display, their relationship with other neighbours should be refined and unique because children emulate what their parents do and say at home.

"Parents must show interest in the children's schooling: giving them time to do homework, supervising the children's homework; visiting the school periodically to discuss children's progress, ensuring that children are in good health before they come to school," he said.

Mount Olivet Methodist School, which was established in October 1989 and was formally opened in 1990 with 30 pupils and two teachers, can now boast of 20 classrooms from KG1 to Junior Secondary School, 670 pupils and 33 trained teachers.

Mr Essuman said: "the children placed in our care by God should not be inhibited in anyway in their forward march to productive and responsible adulthood. The home cannot fail the little ones through irresponsible parenthood."

He urged the Church to continue playing its spiritual role to heighten the crusade on influencing the morality of individual and to ensure that the exhortations to parents are translated into real terms and thus become expressive in the lives of the beneficiaries of the educational system.

"The society must constantly review and refine its value system as a way of providing the youth with a heritage that would propel them towards the sustenance of an equitable future void of laziness, corruption and mediocrity."

He announced that the MOES has developed an Education Strategic Plan, which seek to provide relevant education to all Ghanaians at all levels to enable them to acquire skills that would assist them to develop their potential, to be productive, to facilitate poverty reduction and to promote socio-economic growth and national development.

The MOES, through various programmes and projects would endeavour to expand facilities at various schools to ensure quality education. Mrs. Mary Polly, Headmistress of the School, although they had witnessed substantial growth within the 15 years, they were not complacent about their achievement.

She said Management is pursuing an aggressive programme of expansion to add a well-equipped JSS workshop, a spacious and hygienic canteen, a modern catering department, a science laboratory, a computer centre and a well-stocked school library.

As part of the year-long activity, the school will donate to an orphanage at Bawjiase in the Central Region on October 17 and the Anniversary durbar and Thanks Giving Service will be on October 29 and 30.

Madam Cecilia Acquah, the first headmistress of the School, was thankful to God for his mercies and guidance throughout the years and prayed that He would continue to intervene in remoulding the children both spiritually and physically.