Regional News of Sunday, 10 August 2014

Source: GNA

Don't let children go to school unaccompanied – Counselor

A Counselor at the Cape Coast Polytechnic, Mrs. Esther Amprofi Boham, has appealed to guardians and parents to discontinue the practice of leaving their children to go to school unaccompanied or accompanied by minors.

She said the practice, which had become common in recent times has exposed the children to great danger, such as being knocked down by vehicles, kidnapping and sexual abuses.

She noted instances where some criminals often take advantage of the absence of a guardian to violate naive children.

The Counselor made the appeal during an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of the First Speech and Prize Giving Ceremony of the Pleasant Living Spring Academy, a preschool and basic school in Cape Coast.

The theme for the celebration was “Invest in your Children’s Education for a Better Future."

Mrs. Boham, who doubles as the proprietress of the school, said in safeguarding the lives of the pupils; the school has a system where parents and guardians sign in on bringing the kids to school and out on picking them after school.

She further explained that though some parents were not cooperating, she was confident that with a little more effort and time they would appreciate the system.

The school according to her was committed to ensuring that the children had the best of academic and moral upbringing and appealed to people who shared the dream to support the school to complete its building project.

Mrs. Betty Frimpong, a parent, in an interview with the GNA, appealed to parents not to leave the academic work of the pupils to teachers alone since parents and teachers were partners in the upbringing of the child.

She condemned the habit of leaving the safety of children in the care of minors and further advised that proper checks be done before engaging the services of a driver for school children.