The Executive Director of Child Rights International, Bright Appiah is calling on the Labour Department in Ghana to put in place mechanisms to monitor activities of children who are being used as labourers on cocoa farms.
Although the law permits children who are of working age to work on these farms, he said some of them were engaged in activities that are hazardous to them and could prevent them from either going to school or learning as they should.
Newspaper reports indicates that about 33,000 children are living in danger because they are being used as labourers on cocoa farms in the country.
Due to this, it was noted that while most of them skipped school, those who attend do not pay attention to their education.
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Speaking on Atinka TV‘s morning show, Ghana Nie with Ekourba Gyasi Simpremu, Bright Appiah said due to some interventions by government, stakeholders and investors, education at such places has increased, saying the more the children go to school, the less they participate in child labour.
However, he said most of the activities by the children were in their worst forms and could pose threats to them and therefore called on the Labour department to monitor the activities of these children.
He was of the belief that monitoring their activities will enable stakeholders, including Child Rights International know and address the issues so that the children can have their full rights to education as they deserve.
“We believe that the Labour Department should structure a way they can monitor the activities of these children. Because it is employable age, the law allows it, but for a child to work in that environment, per our labour laws, you need to fulfill certain conditions to be able to engage the child in that kind of service.”
He added, “The question we want to ask is that to what extent is the Labour Department following up on institutions that employ children at the age the law allows that they should work and what conditions the children are working under? Those are the things that I believe that if we are able to do, the issues of children working under hazardous conditions will not be a matter in the country anymore.”
Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori
Writer’s email: [email protected]
