Teachers warned against collection of money, items for craft

The Mfantseman District Director of Education, Miss Vivian Etroo, has cautioned teachers to desist from collecting money and items such as provisions, soap and detergents as well as farm products from their pupils as craft during examinations. She pointed out that the purpose of craft in the school curricula was to inculcate the sense of creativity, the use of the hands and ideas to produce things out of clay, wood or paper.

"To request children to buy items from stores to present as craft do not help the children and defeats the purpose of introducing craft in school," the District Director said.

Miss Etroo made the comment in response to a question at a Community Durbar organised by the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) at Ekumfi Twa in the Central Region, to sensitise some communities in the District on the Capitation Grant. The District Director advised parents to desist from paying either money or in kind to any teacher as craft.

Mrs Justina Asenam Tordjagbo, Regional Director of Education, said the Capitation Grant was a constitutional requirement to enhance the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) programme and said the government would not take any attempt to sabotage it kindly. She asked parents not to see the Grant as a license to shirk their responsibilities towards the education of their children. Mr Robert Quainoo-Arthur, District Chief Executive (DCE), said the Grant would cater for early childhood development centres as from September 2007.

The DCE noted that 1,000 primary schools had been selected for the School Feeding Programme throughout the country on pilot basis with five in the District.

Mr George Kuntu Blankson, MP for Mfantseman East, advised the people to elect devoted men and women, who could champion their cause during the impending District Assembly Elections.

He urged them to register with the District Mutual Health Insurance to enable them to have access to quality health-care services. Miss Kate Walden, Regional Coordinator of GNECC, said the Coalition was compelled to organise the durbar because of diverse views people had about the Capitation Grant.

She said a survey conducted indicated that some people expected the Grant to cover textbooks and stationery while others wanted part to go to the communities for their projects with some asking for part to be used to feed children in early childhood development centres. Mr Robert Mensah, Central Regional Budget Officer of the Ghana Education Service, educated the gathering on how and what the Grant should be used for.

An Mfantseman District Education for All Committee to promote the enrolment of all children of school going age was inaugurated at the ceremony.