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Government has been asked to extend welfare packages being enjoyed by public schools to private institutions and ensure equal access of state intervention to all children as far as education was concerned. The call was made by Mr John Afranie Boateng, President of the Early Childhood Development Centres Association of Ghana (ECDCAG), at its 10th Annual Conference in Koforidua on Thursday. He suggested that the School Feeding Programme should include private early childhood development centres. He said that private schools should not be discriminated against in the provision of facilities that would facilitate the realization of basic education for all children. Mr Boateng said private schools and early childhood development centres were complementing efforts of government in providing basic education. He said that contrary to the perception by some people that private schools were making profit, they were rather providing services that were lacking in public education system. Mr Boateng said public education started from age four but the childhood development centres started as early as six months. He said by law, maternity leave was expected to end by three months and wondered where mothers would have sent their babies if private childhood development centres were not available. In a speech read on behalf of the Member of Parliament for New Juaben South, Ms Beatrice Bernice Boateng called for the provision of more community schools to prevent children from travelling for long distance to school. She advised mangers of private schools to consider running one spine education rather than the running of many levels from crčche through to Junior High Schools (JHS) and all attention directed at the JHS to the detriment of the nurseries. The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said the role of early childhood development centres in Ghana's educational development was crucial. He said that government would ensure that pre-school became a component of the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education. Mr Ampofo urged the schools to educate parents on significance of balanced diet to the growth of children.