Kumasi, July 17, GNA - Madam Patricia Appiagyei, Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, has stated that the new educational reform programme to be introduced by the government would bridge the gap between the less advantaged in the rural areas and the privileged ones in society. The new policy, she said, would bring to all children irrespective of religion, ethnicity or socio-economic background, the fulfilment of their full potentials.

Speaking at the Open Day of the nursery school of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi at the weekend, Madam Appiagyei said the commitment of the government to education was further enhanced by the fact that the payment of fees in the basic schools will cease as from the next academic year. "In addition to these measures, institutions, laws and constitutional provisions are also in place to safeguard the right of children".

The Deputy Regional Minister noted that reports of criminal activities of some children in the media in recent times should be of serious concern to all Ghanaians because they showed that many children lacked the basic foundation of living and responsible parental care. "It is sad that the need to love and be loved is the simplest of all human wants."

She therefore, pleaded with parents to bring up their children in an atmosphere of love, adding that even in discipline, love should be evident and urged parents to create that special relationship with their children.

Mr Newman Twumasi Amponsah, the Kumasi Metropolitan Director of Education, encouraged both teachers and parents to play their complementary roles to ensure a bright future for the children. Mrs Justina Asante Kwatia, Headmistress of the KNUST Nursery, said the school started 40 years ago now boasts of 400 children for both the lower and upper nurseries with about 50 pupils in a class. She appealed to the government and parents to help with the provision of permanent buildings for the school and also provide computers for the school. July 17 05