‘End child labour by ending galamsey’

Bongo District Chief Executive Peter Ayamga has expressed optimism that the fight against ‘galamsey’ or illegal mining activities in the country, if successful, would impact positively on curbing child labour in mining communities.

He observed that in most mining communities, it was common to see children also involved in illegal mining activities to the neglect of their education and health.

Mr Ayamga stated this at Bongo in the Upper East Region during a debate to commemorate this year's World Day Against Child Labour.  Two schools, Soe Senior High School (SHS) and Azeem-Namoa Senior High Technical, participated in a debate on the topic: "Children should not be involved in any form of child labour." The debate was organised by the Bongo District Assembly.

According to Mr Ayamga, it was important for all stakeholders to support efforts to halt galamsey,  since it had a negative impact on the development of children.

He further explained that parents and teachers, particularly in mining communities, should ensure that children under 18 years who were also supposed to be in school were not found doing menial and hazardous jobs.

 Problem

The Head of the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development at Bongo, Mr Theodore Azam, pointed out that statistics showed that child labour was more prevalent in sub-saharan Africa with nearly one in four children aged between five and 14 engaged in work that was not helpful to them.

"In most homes, as a result of poverty and low incomes, children are used to augment household incomes since a number of parents are unable to support themselves financially," Mr Azeem noted.

Debate

At the end of the debate, Azeem-Namoa SHS won with 102 points, while Soe SHS scored 99 points. They were given certificates and prizes comprising educational materials.