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Danger: Pupils skip classes to operate chainsaws for money
The Paramount Chief, Togbe Korlikpo Tameklo III has expressed worry over the rising trend and called on all stakeholders to join the campaign to prosecute adults who engaged children in such forms of labour at the expense of their lessons.
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He said parents who neglected their fatherly and motherly duties of supporting their children to go to school should also be prosecuted.
Togbe Tameklo III made the call when members of the Accra and Tema branch of the Avee Development Association donated 70 dual and mono desks and other furniture worth about GH¢30,000 to the Avee Basic School.
He said the situation was responsible for the woeful performance in the BECE by candidates from the community last year.
None of the 15 candidates who sat the examinations got between aggregates six and 30.
Parental neglect
Togbe Tameklo III blamed the high truancy rate among children in the community on the failure of most parents to monitor their children around the clock.
He said the children were exposed to serious danger from the menial jobs they undertook because they did not get the proper attention and care from their parents.
He said the need for money among the children in the community was not a good overture for decent careers for them in future.
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“What they need is good education, discipline and obedience to authority at home and in school,” Togbe Tameklo III said.
He entreated parents to register the birth of their newborns and acquire birth certificates for them without delay, saying that was vital to help the development of the children.
The Municipal Chief Executive, Divine Bosson, said in spite of the free education policy, it was still crucial for parents to support their children with the basic needs to go to school smoothly.
The Chairman of the Avee Development Association, Togbe Dzogbewu V, said the group would continue to commit resources to improve the standard of basic education in the community.
He entreated the teachers and pupils to take utmost care of the furniture.
The Head Teacher of the junior high school, Ernest Narh, said the furniture was a great source of relief for the students and teachers.
He thanked the association for the timely gesture, which he said would facilitate teaching and learning in the community.
The NDC Member of Parliament for Ho Central, Benjamin Komla Kpodo, entreated the children to study diligently towards a bright future.
Meanwhile, some of the children told The Mirror that they took up the menial and risky jobs to make money.
Some children between ages 10 and 13 said they needed money to buy food and some of their basic needs.
Investigations by the reporter showed that some of the children made about GH¢200 a week, and that was diverting their attention from school.
“This is the cause of the poor academic standard in the school,” one teacher said.