Educationist, Daniel Fenyi has emphatically stressed the importance of recreational facilities in the process of a child’s development.
This comes in the wake of a surprising turn of events, in the Tema metropolitan area, where concerned citizens had previously threatened legal action against the Tema Metropolitan Assembly. Their concern centered around the alleged attempt to sell the Tema children’s park, with plans for a casino development.
In an exclusive interview with UniversNews, he added that children need these centers to help facilitate their growth as individuals.
According to him, removal of children’s parks is undervaluing and being negligent to children’s developmental needs.
“Recreational facilities are a very important part of the child’s development. If you take it away from them, you have practically deprived them of one of the most important things they should know in their lives. So, the idea of selling a children’s park is a sign of disrespect and negligence to children. It means that you don’t value children. It means that, in your opinion, your few children will just grow naturally, whether you have a recreational center for them or not, they will automatically grow. But no, that’s not how we groom children. Children are properly nurtured if you want them to become responsible adults’’.
He propounded that the government should allocate, invest, and actively seek funding to build and enhance recreational facilities for children.
“Government should find a way to allocate funding for these facilities, also there are a number of international organizations and non-governmental organizations that are particularly interested in generally vulnerable children and all that. I strongly believe these are two areas where we can solicit funding for recreational centers for our kids.’’
Daniel Fenyi also stressed the importance of adopting a culture of maintenance among supervisors of these centers, rebuking the negligence of facilities in terms of maintenance.
“However, maintenance should be key, because in many cases after getting all the facilities and all the arrangements in place you will need a high maintenance culture which is generally a problem in this country. Therefore, people who are in charge should make arrangements for such maintenance.”
Meanwhile, these concerned citizens have decided to rescind their decision following assurances from the Tema Metropolitan Assembly and the Tema Development Corporation. These authorities have pledged to halt the construction work by a Chinese developer on 6.2-acre land and ensure that the children’s park remains dedicated to its original purpose.
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Story by: Cindy Selasi Humade | univers.ug.edu.gh
