CCFC SUPPORTS EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT (PAGE 11, AUGUST 10, 2010)

THE Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC), an international development organisation, has introduced a new initiative to support Early Childhood Development (ECD) in parts of the Northern Region.
Under the programme, funds will be allocated to improve teaching and learning at various ECD centres in its programme areas, with much emphasis on Learning Through Play (LTP).
The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has provided an amount of GH¢34, 000 to support the implementation of the project.
The Country Director of the CCFC, Mrs Sanatu Nantogma announced this at the closing ```or various facilitators and partner organisations of the LTP project.
A total of 32 participants were trained to design and implement LTP programmes in their respective programme areas.
She mentioned that the LTP project would seek to build the intellectual capacity of children aged up to six years, through play activities that facilitated learning as well.
Mrs Nantogma explained that in the past, the CCFC had concentrated on the primary and junior high school levels, until it realised that the input provided at the ECD level had a correspondence with the output of the pupils when they progressed to primary and JHS.
She said her organisation had realised that children in its operational areas were performing below average in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and a study conducted had revealed that the children were performing poorly partly because they were not well groomed during the foundation level.
“Hence, our decision to refocus much of our attention on the formative stages and devote resources to encourage learning through play,” Mrs Nantogma stated.
“This model of LTP would improve children’s performance at the BECE and help build their self- esteem, understanding, communication and relationship with others,” she added.
The country director mentioned that the programme` would be implemented in the communities by the Assemblies of God Relief and Development Services (AGREDS) and pledged her organisation’s readiness to monitor the implementation to ensure success.