Former Deputy Information Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide has said there is a need for the Ghana Education Service (GES) to pay a little more attention to the private educational institutions.

His comment comes on the back of the demise of an 11-month-old baby who was manhandled by a 54-year-old caregiver at a private pre-school facility.

“This is not a matter that should be treated likely and I do believe that the Ghana Education Service that superintends the educational environment in our country should attempt to look the private education a little more than they have done over the years,” he said on JoyNews.

In the video footage which was circulating on social media on Friday, May 28, the caregiver, Clara Ayani-Ampah was captured in a forcefully attempt to get the child to swallow porridge.

But the little girl, Allegra Yaba Ackah Mensah resisted with her hands as she tries to pull the cup away.

This got the 54-year-old furious; she sharply removes the baby’s hands from the cup, puts the cup down briefly and holds Allegra’s hands tightly behind her.

The now helpless baby, who appears to be suffocating, begun to throw both legs into the air ferociously to get her caretaker to stop. But Madam Ayani-Ampah does not back off.

Speaking on the AM Show of JoyNews, Pius Hadzide said it seems the GES is giving much more attention to the public sector than that of the private.

“We have focused heavily and sometimes over-focused on the public sector, it is important that we begin to pay attention to some of the activities of the players in the private space.”

He said adequate measures must be put in place, considering the growing middle-class situation accruing in the country.

“More and more working families would come up and the need for pre-school education, crèches and so on will become even more profound.

“There has to be standards, and there has to be assurances, there has to be benchmarks, not just the infrastructure because many a time to be able to come to a conclusion as to whether there is sanity here or this is a safe space to send my child for pre-school, to crèches and so on.”

Mr Hadzide observed that parent, many a time focus on the infrastructure; “the building, the facilities in the building, the I.C.T infrastructure.”

“But, to a large extent, the capacity, the training, the orientation, the emotional intelligence of the people who are managing the kids are as important as the infrastructure,” he said.

He, therefore, opined that the issue of teacher certification in general and teacher certification for such a specialized field as pre-school be given some attention.

“It’s a very technical area because we are looking at people who we describe in education as a tabula rasa, they are empty slates, so what we do with them at that stage is what imprints in them for the rest of their lives and so we should pay particular care to pre-school and early childhood development.”

Meanwhile, the parents of the deceased child have asked that circulating the video be halted as the police undertake its investigation.

The Former Deputy Information Minister said although nothing can be done to replace the pain, “Anybody who is found culpable, anybody who has had a hand in the unfortunate demise of this little 11-month-old baby should be punished.”

“I think that this would not be a substitute, it cannot assuage the feelings of the parent but it will go a long way at least to mitigate the pains that they would be feeling at this time,” he said.