Is education really the answer to child labour?

As you walk from the Kpong lorry park to the Volta lakeside, you are greeted by the bad nature of the road network that leads to the arena where fisher folks dock to sell fish, mainly Tilapia.

But nothing compares to walking along the lake at about 3:00 pm and inhaling the cool Volta lake breeze and watching some fisher folks go fishing, while others repair their nets after their fishing expedition. Another interesting site is the conversation that takes place between the fisher folks who had returned, sold their catch, made some money and are looking for avenues to spend the money, and the petty traders who come around to sell “abolo”- a kind of food prepared from maize, groundnut, “kati cake”- a kind of desert prepared from a mixture of groundnut and sugar, condensed milk toffee among others.

This was a conversation I eavesdropped.

Young fisherfolk: So you are playing me wicked.

Young petty trader: But you refuse to do what you are expected to do.

Young fisherfolk: I told you I don’t have enough money that is why.

Young petty trader: You, you have enough, except that, we are many. Isn’t it?

Young fisherfolk: You know you are the only one I have, why do you speak like that.

As they realised I was eavesdropping they decided to keep mute. I had no choice but to walk on.

The conversation reveals to some extent, the kind of relationship that exists between the fisher folks and the petty traders who come to the lakeside not necessarily to trade only their wares. Your guess is as good as mine.

What really sent me to the Kpong lakeside that day, is the request of a little girl I met at the lakeside, requesting that, on my next visit, I should buy her exercise books. I was moved by this request.  For a girl, who scales fish to support her upkeep, to ask for books from me and not additional money is worth supporting.

Dina Jamila Shamshudeen is a nine-year-old class two pupil of Ahoma Memorial Academy in Kpong. She accompanies her mother to the lake side mostly on weekends to scale fish to complement her mothers’ efforts at taking care of her. Dina says, she wants to become a teacher someday.

So I made this trip to present the exercise books to her. It was interesting to meet her again, and this time with her mother.

According to her 32-year-old mother, Laako, who sells Tilapia at the Lakeside, she comes with Dina to the lakeside to engage in fish scaling because her husband does not work and they need to feed themselves.

Laako mentioned that, on weekdays, Dina is only allowed to come to the lakeside after 3pm. She says business is not bad, especially during weekends, though they now have to contend with big cold store operators who are located at Ashaiman and Tema.

When asked about whether she knows that the practice of bringing her under age child to scale fish, can be described as child labour, she responded in the negative.

The International Labor Organization, or the ILO, defines child labour as “some types of work” done by children under the age of 18. The ILO also says that child labour includes full-time work done by children under 15 years of age that prevents them from going to school (getting an education), or that is dangerous to their health.

In its Global Report on child labour, the ILO has said that the global number of child labourers had declined from 222 million to 215 million, or 3 per cent, over the period 2004 to 2008, representing a “slowing down of the global pace of reduction.” The report also expressed concern that the global economic crisis could “further brake” progress toward the goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labour by 2016.

The new ILO global report, entitled Accelerating action against child labour, presents detailed estimates. Progress was greatest among children aged 5-14, where the number of child labourers fell by 10 per cent. Child labour among girls decreased by 15 per cent. However, it increased among boys (by 8 million or 7 per cent). What’s more, child labour among young people aged 15 to 17 increased by 20 per cent, from 52 million to 62 million.

At the lakeside however, you could count about 85 people engaging in activities directly or indirectly linked to Tilapia. They are made up of about 35 children between the ages of four and twelve, 20 youth between the ages of 18 and 29 and 30 elderly folks between the ages of about 40 t0 65.

The children mostly engaged in fish scaling and fishing on the Volta Lake.  An 11-year-old Bismark Ofori, speaking to this writer, expressed regrets about his father, Tetteh Oforis’ unwillingness to allow him to concentrate on his education. He says, he is compelled by his father who is a fisherman, to take a canoe onto the lake early in the mornings to cast net before going to school. This makes it impossible for him to get to school on time. He aspires to be a doctor someday. He has been fishing on the lake since he was 10.

“Education is the key to the elimination of all forms of child labour in Ghana,” the Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, has said.

Mr. Austin Gamey, a labour expert and the Chief Executive Officer of Gamey & Gamey Academy of Mediation in an interview with this writer said, one way by which the issue of child labour can be addressed in Ghana, is when Assembly members and opinion leaders in the communities affected, go down to the parents and speak to them about the dangers associated with this practice. “I think politicians have a great role to play in this,” he suggested.

It appears that, most parents who engage their children in labour activities are even not aware of the harm they cause to these children.

By Pascal Kelvin Kudiabor