Mr Gordon Yeboah Opoku, the Sekyere Central District Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) is advocating efforts to expose Ghanaian children to the principles of democracy to consolidate the gains under the Fourth Republic. He said engaging children right from the basic school level on the importance of democratic governance was the way to go as a country determined to prevent interruption of constitutional rule. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency on the importance of the annual Citizenship Week celebration by the NCCE, Mr Opoku said it was important to target pupils in basic schools as future leaders in waiting. The Sekyere Central District Directorate of the Commission had been engaging selected basic schools in the district to mark this year's celebration which also coincided with the 30th anniversary of the Fourth Republic. The celebration was on the theme, '30 Years of Consolidating Constitutional Democracy and Building National Cohesion: The Role of the Ghanaian Child.' Various resource persons were mobilised to visit the beneficiary schools to sensitise the pupils on their civic responsibilities as children and the role they could play in building a strong, vibrant, and democratic Ghana. They also encouraged them to be proud as Ghanaians, protect public property, and contribute to the well-being of the communities where they lived. This, according to Mr. Opoku, formed part of the strategies by the NCCE to 'catch them young' and groom them into responsible citizens to ensure continuity of democratic governance. He underlined the need to inculcate Ghanaian values in children not only at the school level but also in various homes. He was of the firm believe that training children with such values would bring out the sense of nationalism in them which would translate into proper care of the environment and other national assets.

Source: Ghana News Agency