Hohoe, (V/R) April 1, GNA - A total of 121 day care centres and cr=E8ches are unlicensed and therefore operating illegally in the Volta Region.

Mr. Larry Bissaba, Regional Director of Department of Social Welfare who was speaking to the GNA at Hohoe on Friday, disclosed that only 39 of such centres out of a total of 160, operating in the region have valid certification to do business.

He said the department would therefore, in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service, the Police and the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs embark on an exercise to "mop them out" as attempts to correct the illegality of those operating without valid certificates.

Mr Bissaba said that it behoves on all day care centres and cr=E8ches to operate within the status quo and standards prescribed by the department stressing that a haphazard administration of such institutions could bring serious repercussions against child development, rights and freedom.

He said the national aspiration could not be jeopardised because of the activities of this non-conformists as no institution is responsible for inspecting their progress or otherwise let alone their physical infrastructure.

Mr Bissaba said issues of child education and development should take centre stage in national development programme hence the need to flash out the misfits.

Mr Bissaba urged parents to be wary of which centres they enrol their children as an inadvertent mistake could ruin the total developmental process of the child and the human resource necessary for growth. He said lack of logistics militated against their smooth operation and efficiency in the region and appealed to the authorities to urgently come to their aid.

He said the department has the mission of integrating the vulnerable and the disadvantaged in the society into mainstream national development. 01 Apr. 05