"A Memorable Day" launched

Accra, Feb. 20, GNA- Ms. Dorothy Rozga, UNICEF Country Representative, has reiterated the need for countries to respect the Convention on the Rights of the Child as their national responsibility towards their growth and development.

She said the Convention is very essential for building an effective democracy and assist the child to learn right from wrong.

Ms. Rozga was speaking at the launch of "A Memorable Day," which was written and illustrated by Primary 3 pupils of Alpha Beta Education Centres Limited at Dansoman in Accra.

The 16-paged book was a motivation the pupil had from an excursion to the Akropong School of the Blind and Deaf about the importance of physically challenged in the developmental agenda of every nation.

Ms Rozga said storytelling by children from an early age encourages their self-development and also assist adults understand where the children are in their development process.

"It can help a child start to develop a sense of sharing and ability to see events from soeone else's point of view," she said and congratulated the pupils for their sense of creativity and spirit of team work.

She said the publication sets a standard for the children- and this quality standard is critical for children to learn about an early age if they are to be competitive in the current world.

Mrs Sarah Agyeman-Duah, Acting Director, Curriculum Research and Development Division (CRDD) of the Ghana Education Service said, writing and illustrating books are rare creative skills, which reflect the manipulative and mental abilities of the child.

She said it also reflects a child's innate or inborn potentials, which teachers should harness in their attempt to educate the child. She said the feelings and emotions experienced by the pupils on their visit urged them to produce that reading material for others to read to increase their repertoire of knowledge.

"These children have demonstrated that, given the chance, the right exposure and resources, they can do more than we envisage and become future book illustrators, writers, editors, journalists, historians, social commentators, designers and many more."

Mrs Agyeman-Duah said the children had attained the role model status or peer motivators because they have set the pace for others to follow and urged parents and teachers to foster the creative potential of their wards by encouraging and providing them with the necessary logistics and support.

Mrs. Florence Adjepong, the Headmistress, said the book was the revelations the pupils had concerning the physically challenged and wanted people to know that they are part and parcel of the society and whose contributions are necessary in the development of the country.

"The pupils now know that many of the physically challenged have talents that even those of us with able bodies do not have." She said the pupils demystify the 'clouds' surrounding writing and publishing books and urged them to keep it up.

Mrs. Adjepong announced that all the proceeds from the sale of the book would be donated to the Akropong School of the Blind.

Mr. Anis Haffar, Proprietor of the Gifted and Talented Education Institute, who reviewed the book, said if, as a country one could encourage students to write their own books, there would be no need to import books from outside.

He said children's opinions matter in every decision taken on their behalf and congratulated the pupils for their brevity, hard work and team spirit.

Mr Alfred B. Amoatey, Metro Director, Ghana Education Service, said the best one could acquire for his children is education because it is the training of the hand, the body and the mind to put the person at position to fend for himself/herself.

He said, "when you educate your children they will grow to give you all that you lost in life while spending on their education but when you acquire mansions for them without education, when you die they will sell all those mansions and misuse the proceeds because you have not invested in giving them knowledge.

Earlier, Alpha Beta pupils beat Akropong School of the Blind by five goals to one in a friendly football match.