Yen Daakye Movement, an effort by people from different backgrounds who heartily advocate for the interests of children in Ghana is standing up to celebrate the Ghanaian child on Universal Children’s Day. United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on the Twenty (20th) of November, 1989. Issues concerning Ghanaian children appear to be uncountable, even though we have laws such as the Children’s Act 560(1989) which is supposed to be protecting them. Today we as a group would like to focus on basic education specifically looking at corporal punishment and its effect on schooling.
Currently, public basic schools in the country are not conducive for our children’s total development. Most public basic schools lack facilities for effective teaching and learning. Parents would rather take their children to the private basic schools. Our public basic schools are overcrowded putting pressure on our teachers who have resorted to excessive and unreasonable corporal punishment of our children. This is one of the reasons public basic schools have become unattractive to our children.
On a day set aside to mark the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the child (CRC), the Yen Daakye Movement would like to focus on excessive corporal punishment meted out to children which has accounted for an increase in school dropout and attendance resulting in poor academic performance.
According to a Ministry of Women and Children Affairs/UNICEF(2011) report on the situation of Ghanaian children and women, one of the reasons why children drop out of school is pervasive and severe corporal punishment in schools (MOWAC/UNICEF 2011).
In Ghana, our culture allows for children to be beaten and not allowed to explain themselves. 
A traditional saying, borrowed from the Bible that says, "Spare the rod and spoil the child” encourages parents and teachers to adopt corporal punishment, especially caning of children. This is literally scaring our children for life. Let us ask ourselves if we are actually reforming our children by constantly beating them when they go wrong? Aren’t there better and more effective ways of correcting them?
Our objective today is to draw our society’s attention to the effects of corporal punishment on children’s education. Currently, evidence gathered indicates that, the practice still persists in homes and schools all over the country. This is contributing to absenteeism; high drop-out rate of school children and poor academic performance, amongst many other effects. Some children we spoke to, during our investigations have dropped out of school because teachers cane them daily. Children have resolved to stay home rather than undergo such abuse.
We wish to draw the attention of communities, religious institutions and the government to these issues and find out if they would look on for our dear children to undergo such brutalities in the name of punishment with the hope of reformation. Are children being reformed or have they rather become hardened by these brutalities? What role are we playing to ensure that our children, vulnerable as they are, are protected and can attend school without the fear of being physically or verbally abused?
We as parents, teachers and society in general need a new approach on how to engage children and get them corrected. We need to talk and explain things to children and to be friendly to them. We need to close the wide gap that currently exists between children and adults. Let us get close to them and engage with them as human beings. Christ our savour, who we believe in, called us in Matthew 19; 14 to “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belong to such as these”. We need to stand up and speak for children collectively as they are vulnerable. We in the Yen Daakye Movement have decided to dedicate our time to this cause and are calling on all to join us. We will be leaving forms with the church to encourage you to sign up and join the Movement.
Why have we selected this community? It is because in James Town the JayNii Streetwise Foundation are doing great work for children in this community. There are parents in our societies who simply cannot take care of their children. Who should provide for these children? We all as a country, represented by the State. However, we as a church and the community at large need to take some responsibility for what goes on in our community.
Our objective as we commemorate this day is to visit churches and call on parents to relook at corporal punishment. We all need to find new ways of engaging our children in correcting them. This Sunday is a day for us to stop and listen to the children. They have some very valuable (if not alarming) experiences of corporal punishment to share. Collectively we need to stand up against corporal punishment in our schools and homes. We need to find ways to change our culture; by changing our attitudes and behaviours towards children. We must stand up and break the cycle of poor academic performance in our public basic schools!
We need to cultivate the habit of taking interest in what is happening in schools in our communities especially the public basic school. Teachers need our support to train our dear children.
We all need to stand up and support children especially needy ones in our communities and also engage with teachers.
If you have the passion and want to speak for children, come join us by registering to be a member of the Movement and join today’s march after church. We will be meeting at the James Town Lighthouse at 12.30 pm.
Let us all stand up and advocate for a better future for our children, it is their right. They are the future for our country.
See you at the lighthouse!
