This year’s World Aflatoun Day has been commemorated with a call on parents to inculcate in their children the habit of saving to secure their future.
Commemorated globally on March 17 every year, Aflatoun is derived from an Indian word which means forming clubs in schools and communities to help build the potentials of children.
The Project Co-ordinator of the SOS Children’s Villages Ghana, Mr George Yaw Boateng, who made the call, observed that teaching children how to save could go a long way to make them financially buoyant in the future.
He added that the act could enable children gather enough capital and open their businesses and employ others as they grow without depending on white-collar jobs.
“Children can only become responsible and patriotic citizens if they receive the right kind of education that will fully develop their heads, hearts and hands,” he emphasised.
Aflatoun Day Children in Aflatoun clubs are regularly schooled on areas such as building the future of children, savings, entrepreneurship, child’s rights and responsibilities, importance of education and teenage pregnancy through a Child Social and Financial Education (CSFE) programme implemented by the SOS Children’s Villages Ghana.
The global theme for this year’s celebration is “Developing the full potential of the child,” and in Ghana, the programme was put together by the SOS Children’s Villages Ghana.
As part of activities to observe this year’s occasion, children matched through some parts of Accra as well as showcased some artefacts they had made.
Aflatoun has benefitted over two million children in more than 100 countries across the globe since its establishment in 2005.
Children as agents of change Elaborating on the importance of the CSFE programmes, Mr Boateng stated that children were also educated on how to be agents of change in society.
Through the programme, he indicated that the savings ability of children had been influenced tremendously, adding that, “They are always encouraged to save as little as GH¢0.10 to GH¢0.20 and they do that with joy.
“We also liaise with their parents to have closer eyes on them in order not to engage in activities such as stealing to save,” he stressed.
To ensure that the youth are not left out, Mr Boateng said SOS Ghana had gone further to develop Aflateen programmes for adults and youth who were 14 years and above to ensure fruitful and successful future.
SOS interventions commended In an interview, the Ablekuma South Sub-Metro Circuits’ Supervisor of the Ghana Education Service, Mr Kwaku Mensah Adupaku, commended the SOS Ghana for the various interventions it had introduced to alleviate poverty from communities in the country.
According to him, the development of children could not be left for parents and teachers alone, “but also the full assistance from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society groups.
“I’m always prepared to support any programme from NGOs geared towards helping children and the community in general,” he added.
He also called on other stakeholders in education and child development to play active roles in ensuring that the potentials of children were realised fully.
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