By Albert Futukpor
Botanga (N/R), June 13, GNA – The Northern Ghana Programme Office of Right To Play (RTP), an international non-govenmental organisation, and its partners have commemorated the International Day of Play to drum home the significance of play-based learning.
It was also to create awareness on the need for stakeholders to adopt it to guarantee effective teaching and learning outcomes.
The Day, which was marked with learners at the Kings Basic School at Botanga in the Kumbungu District of the Northern Region, was also to raise awareness on how learning through play could be maximised to improve positive teaching and learning among pupils.
It was on the theme: “The Role of Play in Educational Transformation, Community Development Initiatives, and Holistic Development of Children”.
Mr Evans Sinkari, the Programme Director, Right To Play Ghana, speaking during the event, said it was to reflect on the achievements, challenges and prospects of play towards harnessing the overall development of children.
The International Day of Play, which is commemorated on June 11, every year, was instituted by the United Nations General Assembly on March 25, this year.
It was a culmination of a large global effort led by a coalition of organisations of which Right To Play was a founding member.
The commemoration was in partnership with the Ghana Education Service, School for Life, Plan International Ghana, Lively Minds, and Literacy and Development through Partnership.
The other partners were the Regional Advisory Information and Network Systems, Child Learning for Development, Chance for Children and Rising Academy Network.
Some Directors of Education in the region, representatives of NGOs, parents, guardians and learners graced the occasion.
It sought to spotlight the importance of play in children’s lives, learning and development and a call to attention on the need to protect and support children’s right to play.
Mr Sinkari said: “What we are doing here today is a local expression of what Right To Play is leading globally with the aim to drum home the significance of play-based learning and the need for stakeholders to adopt similar approach to guarantee effective teaching and learning outcomes.”
He said play was not only meant for children as adults could also use it to promote peaceful coexistence, create happiness and help maintain healthier lifestyles in their communities.
He called on government and the relevant stakeholders to support the celebration of the International Day of Play by providing the enabling environment where learners to explore and discover their capabilities through play.
Mr Yahaya Sulemana, the Kumbungu District Director of Education, expressed the need for all to embrace play as a vehicle for transformative learning and commended Right To Play for its interventions in the area.
He added that the NGO, over the years, through its engagements with schools, had proven that the initiative was effective and applicable to learning.
The participants, during a roundtable, shared their childhood experiences through play with the learners to ensured their mental, social, emotional and intellectual development.
GNA