Accra, July 27, GNA - Staff and pupils of the Street Academy have attended a thanksgiving service in Accra on Sunday to offer prayers for final year graduates of the school who are due to enter the formal school system to continue their basic education. The 30 graduates made up of 14 boys and 16 girls will enter public primary schools in the Accra Metropolis to start their formal education from primaries one to six.

Pastor Chris Nyame of the City Temple International of the Universal Prayer Group Ministries who led the congregation said there is a lot that the community could do to assist the Academy to cater for the up keep of children taken off the streets. He said all children are born with a mission and that those at the Academy should be supported and not to be shunned. Pastor Nyame advised children of the Academy to take advantage of their informal training and utilise the opportunities offered them to lead decent lives and to make education their cornerstone and goal in life. He also called on parents to be responsible and take good care of their children and not to abandon them to fend for themselves on the streets since God abhors irresponsible parenthood.

The Ga Mantse, Nii Tackie Tawiah 111, in a speech read on his behalf, commended the Street Academy for taking care of the children and giving them an opportunity to become useful citizens. He paid gratitude to organizations and individuals who through their benevolence and in diverse ways contributed to the upkeep of the children. The Ga Mantse advised the children to ensure that they make the fear of the Lord their cardinal principle and to desist from negative activities that might ruin their future goals and development

Nene Ataa Lartey, Director of the Street Academy, said the Academy which was established in the 1980's has been able to give informal training to many children and assisted to integrate them into the formal school system to acquire basic education. He commended the City Temple International for offering prayers to the staff and children of the Academy adding and that it would them in shaping and guiding the lives of the children to desist from engaging in negative practices that might affect their upbringing. The Street Academy caters for selected children, (both boys and girls), from the various communities in the Greater Accra Region who have attained school going age but are not in school to provide them with non-formal education, sports and cultural activities.