Global Leaders Meeting 2010 At Reggio Emilia

Global
Leaders
Meeting
2010
 At
Reggio
Emilia



Venue:
International
Conference
Center
 Date:
14
September,
2010
 Presented
by
Mrs.
Hannah
Odjenma
Botchway
 Accra,
Ghana.


Introduction
   The
Republic
of
Ghana
is
a
country
located
in
West
Africa.
 It
is
bordered
by
Côte
d'Ivoire(Ivory
Coast)
to
the
 west,
Burkina
Faso
to
the
north,
Togo
to
the
east,
and
 the
Gulf
of
Guinea
to
the
south.
The
word
Ghana
means
 "Warrior
King"
and
is
derived
from
the
ancient
Ghana
 Empire.
Ghana
was
inhabited
in
pre‐colonial
times
by
a
 number
of
ancient
predominantly
Akan
Kingdoms,
 including
the
Akwamu
on
the
eastern
coast,
the
 inland
Ashanti
Empire
and
various
Fante
and
non‐Akan
 states,
like
the
Ga
and
Ewe,
along
the
coast
and
inland.



Introduction


 The
rationale
of
the
project
was
to
provide
 a
frame
work
for
advocacy
to
sensitize
 sector
Ministries,
NGO’s,
Communities,
 Child
Care
Institutions
and
families
for
 investment
in
effective
implementation
of
 early
Childhood
Care
and
Development
 programs.


Introduction
   Though
the
Government
of
Ghana
is
obligated
by
the
 1992
Constitution
and
other
existing
legislation
to
 provide
ECCD
services,
as
well
as
formulate
policies
 and
design
programs
on
ECD,
enforcement
of
such
 legislation
and
implementation
of
the
programs
have
 not
impacted
so
much
on
the
issues
of
children
 welfare
in
the
country.
The
Project
viewed
ECCD
as
a
 strategy
for
poverty
reduction,
taking
into
account

 the
high
levels
of
poverty

in
the
country,
the
low
 literacy
rate
and
non‐enforcement
of
existing
 legislation
that
being
partly
the
casual
factor
of
failure
 of
ECCD
programs
in
the
country.



The
Beginning

   Upon
Arrival,
I
reported
myself
to
the
Ghana
 education
Service
and
the
Department
of
Social
 Welfare,
because
I
realized
they
are
main
people
who
 I
had
to
meet
with.
   As
part
of
the
GES
Policies
Pre
School
has
been
joined
 to
the
main
structure
of
basic
education
in
Ghana.
 From
0
–
4
years
attend
day
Care
Centers
which
are
 taken
care
of
by
Social
Welfare,
from
ages
4
–
6
which
 is
kindergarten
(KG
1
&
2)
is
carried
by
the
GES.


Stake
Holders


Supervisors
and
care
givers
of
Early
 Childhood
Development
Centers
  Supervisors
of
orphanages
and
 children
residential
homes
  Religious
Bodies


Stake
Holders
  Community
based
women
organizations
  District
Health
Officers
  District
Social
Welfare
Officers
  District
Education
Officers
  Traditional
Leaders
of
main
ethnic
 groupings
  District
Officers
of
the
Department
of
 Births
and
Deaths
Registry



Challenges
   Several
of
the
owners
of
the
schools
not
comprising,
 and
have
for
any
wrong
approach
going
on
in
their
 classes.
   When
we
look
at
health
which
is
the
base,
because
a
 sick
infant
will
not
be
able
to
communicate
 effectively,
school
environment
are
not
hygienic,
 some
with
chocked
gutters
just
around
where
food
is
 being
prepared
for
the
children.
Good
food
is
another
 issue
of
concern,
so
several
of
the
children
don’t
look
 healthy
at
all.
Children
need
balance
diet
to
be
able
to
 grow
very
healthy.


Challenges
   Lack
of
security
infrastructure,
some
of
the
centers
 have
been
encroached
on,
the
schools
are
so
open
 where
intruders
who
are
the
town
folks
use
the
 school
as
thorough
fair
hence
the
interference
in
 school
activities.
Some
of
the
children
have
not
been
 given
the
necessary
vaccines;
hence
the
children
 don’t
look
healthy.
   The
less
number
of
good
schools
around
are
private
 so
they
don’t
serve
the
children
within
the
 communities
whose
parents
don’t
earn
much.


How
these
were
addressed
   With
the
collaboration
from
the
District
Early
 Childhood
Coordinators,
we
visited
some
of
the
 schools
and
spoke
to
the
owners
on
the
need
to
 maintain
good
and
atmosphere
and
to
keep
the
 environment
child
friendly.
   On
the
keeping
a
healthy
environment
issue,
we
used
 drama,
by
picking
a
theme
and
letting
the
infants
 dramatize.
Through
the
local
assembly
assistance
we
 got
the
youth
in
the
surrounding
area
to
appreciate
 the
need
to
keep
a
clean,
and
maintain
a
good
and
 health
environment.


How
these
were
addressed
   Had
discussions
with
the
matrons
and
the
kitchen
 staff
to
change
their
menu
to
suit
the
children
and
 also
encourage
them
to
give
the
children
fruits.
   Security
issue
has
been
matters
of
the
heart.
Several
 schools
don’t
have
required
documentation
to
cover
 that,
so
we
advised
them
to
do
so.
Other
centers
too
 are
the
community
built,
because
of
that
schools
are
 interrupted
for
community
activities,
on
this
issue
we
 also
has
joint
meetings
with
both
the
school
staff
and
 the


What
was
the
outcome?
   At
some
centers
we
called
PTA’s
and
interacted
 with
not
only
the
parents,
teachers
but
 community,
persons
spread
the
news
on
how
to
 protect
the
infants
by
vaccinating
them
against
 the
killer
diseases.
   Those
who
refused
the
children’s
on
the
 vaccination
on
religious
beliefs
ignorance
were
 advised.
The
key
instrument
we
used
was
drama
 and
music,
where
we
were
able
to
send
the
 message
across.


What
was
the
outcome?
   There
was
a
great
improvement
on
the
good
 practices
of
teaching
at
the
Early
Childhood
 Education,
since
we
promised
regular
visits.
It
 came
out
quite
clear
that
a
lot
of
the
things
were
 going
on
because
of
ignorance.
We
tasked
the
 proprietors,
to
spread
the
good
news
to
their
 peers.
The
need
for
good
food
has
improved,
at
 several
places
on
one
clear
indication
was
the
 readiness
of
the
matron
and
kitchen
staff
to
adopt
 a
healthy
menu,
and
also
ensure
the
clean
 environment.



What
I
learned
about
advocacy
   Getting
people
to
understand
the
need
to
 understand
that
children
are
the
future
 leaders
and
need
to
be
prepared
well
was
not
 easy.
Some
are
of
the
opinion
that
anywhere
 the
children
meet
with
a
teacher
standing
 before
this
is
a
classroom
nothing
more
 matters.


What
I
learned
about
advocacy
   Getting
school
owners
to
understand
that
money
 shouldn’t
be
the
outmost
aim
of
starting
a
school
and
 needs
to
be
structured.
It
is
not
easy
to
change
old
 habits
example
of
encouraging
schools
to
use
the
 activity
method
while
teachers
facilitates
instead
of
 children
in
rows
and
teachers
stand
in
front.
   Some
people
take
quite
a
longtime
to
accept
change.
 Advocacy
has
its
own
challenges.


Leadership
   Leadership
goes
with
challenges
   A
Leader
has
to
be
of
example.
   A
leader
is
a
role
model
and
needs
patience
 and
determination
to
overcome.
   A
leader
needs
to
get
strong
when
the
going
 is
getting
tough.


Leadership
   As
a
Global
leader.
I
played
an
important
role
 carrying
out
the
new
policy
carried
out
in
 collaboration
with
the
Ministry
of
Education
 and
the
Ghana
Education
Service,
NALAP
 being
the
literacy
acceleration
project.
A
 bilingual
project
where
emphasis
is
laid
on
the
 child’s
mother
tongue,
L1
and
the
introduction
 of
the
second
language
as
the
L2.



Conclusion
   Global
Leaders
is
like
a
dream
come
true
for
early
 childcare
and
education
in
Ghana.
It
has
served
 the
purpose
of
revival
in
the
field
of
imparting
 knowledge
to
all
who
matter
to
the
good
 foundation
of
the
children.
   As
an
advocate
for
early
childhood
education
 program
has
given
me
the
opportunity
to
do
 better
what
I
love
doing.
Several
Proprietors
and
 proprietress
have
appreciated
the
opportunity
to
 see
where
they
fall
short
and
how
best
they
can
 support
the
children.


Conclusion
  The
community
health
support
has
also
 been
paying
visits
to
the
Early
childhood
 Centers
regularly
to
see
to
It
that
the
 personal
hygiene
of
the
children
becomes
 paramount.
Finally
I
wish
to
emphasis
that
 the
program
was
successful
to,
children,
 parents,
teachers,
and
all
stake
holders.


Thank
You!