News:
June 20, 2013
The Member of Parliament for Manhyia North in the Ashanti Region, Collins Owusu-Amankwa has attributed the high child labour in the country to psychological causes rather than poverty.
Mr. Owusu-Amankwa said from some observations made so far, he has come to conclusion that most children are subjected to child labour not because their parents are poor but the fact that their parents believed that they went through similar situation to become what they are today.
The MP was expressing his worry about the high level of child labour in his constituency indicated that most parents forced their wards to engage in income generation activities at an early age because they fill it is a cycle that must continue because they pass comments like “at your age I was providing for myself and the entire household”. Though he admitted to poverty being one of the major reasons for child labour, he noted that most parents of children in child labour are very capable of providing the needs of their children but failed to do so because of that mind set.
According to him, high numbers of children are engaged in economic activities ranging from hawking, “kayaye”, scrup collection especially those from Moshie Zongo and this is responsible for high schools drop outs in the constituency.
Meanwhile, the Mp has initiated measures to address the problem by first trying to help parents to appreciate the enormity of the situation and a call for change of mind. So far meetings have been held with parents and other stakeholders on the issue. The next step however, is to raise funds to assist these children to get back to the classroom.
Dominic Shirimori/Ghanamps.gov.gh