Moulding the child is not for teachers alone

Page 11
08-08-08

THE Headmaster of the Ministry of Health School, Mr Joseph Noble-Nkrumah, has said that moulding of the child is not the responsibility of school authorities alone, but that of parents as well.
He regretted that parents saw the issue of moulding the child or character formation of the child as the duty of school authorities and teachers, even though they equally had an important role to play.
Mr Noble-Nkrumah said this during the 26th Speech and Prize-giving Day at the Additrom School at Adabraka in Accra and pointed out that it was unfortunate parents had left the issue of character formation of the child solely to the school.
“Unfortunately, many of us have relegated this important role to the school. This is because we set off to work very early and hardly do we have the time to appraise how the child fared during the day,” he said, adding that “it is our actions and inaction in this regard that cumulatively destroy these children”.
He, therefore, stressed the need for parents to be supportive in the formative years of children so that they would grow up to become responsible citizens.
Mr Noble-Nkrumah urged the students to take advantage of the solid foundation that had been laid for them, saying that “you have no right to fail yourselves or disappoint all of us”.
He said the competition in the world was keen, and therefore, they needed to work extra hard to make it.
The headmistress of the school, Ms Deborah Baddoo, said with changes in recent times, it had become necessary to keep pupils and teachers on the alert.
In view of this, she said, counselling sessions and talks had been held for pupils on their careers, choice of schools and programmes they could pursue in senior high schools.
As part of its support to the sick, she said, the school in December last year presented toiletries, disinfectants, biscuits, drinks and an amount of GH¢150 to the Fevers Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
She said the school organised a health walk to sensitise the public to the need for clean environment and the benefits of physical exercise.
She was happy about the school’s performance during the 2007 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in which the 30 candidates presented scored 100 per cent with 10 distinctions.
The event was on theme: The Challenges of the New Education Reforms: The Role of Private Schools”.