She reminded them that such children were not in regular school and should not to be treated as pupil’s, adding, “from age zero to three years, these children are not in school but receiving care in your premises to allow their parents to go about their daily businesses”.

 Mrs. Ackon gave the admonition during a day’s workshop for day care operators and early childhood schools within the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolis of the Western Region.

The workshop was to help the proprietors’ of the facilities to learn new teaching skills for early childhood education as well as integrate issues of hygiene and environmental sanitation in their operations.

 Ms Deborah Daisy Kwabia, the Metropolitan Social Welfare Officer, reiterated that Day Care facilities were not schools in themselves and wondered why some proprietors disturbed toddlers with formal forms of learning.

 She explained that children at that foundation level, learnt through signals, oral, verbal and logical means and that the right mode of presentation must be adopted to help such children pick up the right information from the beginning.

  “Observe your children critically and pick their signals and actions to help you teach them the right ways, remember, these children learn through play”.

 She in this regard, urged them to incorporate out-door learning to help children to learn a lot from the natural environment.

 Ms Kwabia warned that day care proprietors who failed to regularize their activities would have their facilities closed down.

 The Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr. Anthony K. K. Sam, said the foundation of every child was important for their growth and development to responsible adulthood and that the care givers’ factor could not be under estimated.

 Mr Sam was therefore worried that most care giving centres did not meet the standards set by the regulating authorities, stressing that about 450 centres within the Metropolis operated under deplorable conditions.

He stressed the need for the relevant certification and requirements, to enable them give the needed assistance, adding “we are partners in development…do your best in providing child friendly centres and also conform to stipulated requirements”.