Sekyere (Ashanti), 2 March '99 -

A suggestion has been made to parents of disabled children to desist from the habit of pushing such children into learning a trade at a tender age but rather enrol them at normal schools to acquire basic education first. Mr Adu Boampong, national treasurer of the Disabled Association of Ghana, said at such a tender age, the disabled child like the normal child needs to be encouraged to broaden his or her potentials in all spheres before making a choice between academic and vocational pursuits. Mr Boampong made the suggestion at a fund-raising harvest organised by the Community-Based Rehabilitation Centre at Sekyere in the Sekyere East district of Ashanti in aid of the construction of permanent structures for the centre. He said equal opportunities should be given the disabled child and not to wrongly perceive such handicapped children as liabilities. Mr Kwame De-Graft Agyei, the District Chief Executive, in an address read on his behalf, advised Ghanaians to shift their emphasis towards providing amenities and facilities that could help the disabled acquire employable skills rather than offering them charitable donations. The DCE stated that this is the only option through which the nation can contribute to making the handicapped more productive to their communities, families and the country and also help rid the streets of the begging menace.