By Jesse Ampah Owusu
Accra, Aug. 01, GNA – Stakeholders in child protection and education have called on policy makers to improve the enforcement and monitoring of policies in addressing the prevalence of child labour in Ghana.
They said despite the availability of policies and laws to address the menace, the situation was still prevalent in the country, especially in the hinterlands, due to weak enforcement and monitoring.
These were highlighted at the national child protection and education stakeholders meeting held by the Right To Play, a non-governmental organisation in children welfare and education support, in Accra.
The event was to engage stakeholders to solicit their views and inputs in the rollout of two initiatives being implemented by the Right To Play organisation.
One of the projects is My Life My Rights; an initiative funded by Barry Callebaut, to address child labour and out-of-school children prevalence in farming communities at Asunafo North, Adansi South, Adansi Asokwa and Adansi Krofuom.
The other is My Right My Future, an initiative funded by the European Commission to address child labour and out-of-school children prevalence in farming and fishing communities in the Volta and Oti regions.
Mr Julius Kwami Tsatsu, the Project Manager for My Life My Rights, said most of the child labour and out-of-school children problem resulted from parental neglect.
Parents neglecting their responsibilities towards their children led to their being forced into child labour and exploitation in order to survive, he said.
“When parents neglect their responsibilities the children decide to find ways and means to cater for themselves, which often led to them being forced into child labour and exploitation,” he said.
Mr Bagonluri Kibuka, the Project Manager, My Right My Future, said government programmes in addressing the issue of out-of-school children should be well targeted and monitored to ensure the recipients benefited from what was due them.
He said an initiative like the School Feeding Programme should be targeted at more deprived communities and schools, where feeding was a barrier to accessing education.
Mr Kibuka noted that improved coordination, continuity of participants and local authorities engagement and participation in those programmes would ensure that they addressed the challenges effectively at the local level.
Meanwhile, in Ghana, a significant number of children are out of school, with estimates ranging from 958,300 primary-school-aged children not enrolled, including those who have never attended school.
A large percentage of these children are engaged in child labour, particularly in agriculture, which prevents them from attending school.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe