Government commended for social interventions
Children of Ghana have commended and expressed gratitude to government for instituting numerous social support services for children education and livelihood.
This was contained in a speech read on behalf of the children of Ghana by Ms Wilhemina Annan, a pupil of Agona Duakwa Methodist Junior High School at a forum organised by the District Directorate of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to mark the World Day against Child Labour at Agona Duakwa Methodist School.
Ms Annan said it was unfortunate that hundreds of millions of children in the world are engaged in labours that deprived them of adequate education, health, leisure and basic freedom in violation of their rights.
She said in Ghana, children are seen in the streets engaging themselves in activities such as manual handling and transportation of heavy loads and selling.
In the mining communities small-scale mining and illegal mining had become the order of the day while in the fishing and farming communities children were made to do all kinds of work at the expense of their education.
Ms Annan said in the home children were made to do all sorts of domestic chores with some, especially house-helps waking up very early, work all day through and go to bed late, some of them were denied food, healthcare and good sleeping places.
The pupils appealed to parents to produce children they could conveniently cater for so that they did not end up serving other people as house-helps where they would be made to do hazardous work.
They commended the government for providing the School Feeding Programme, the Capitation Grant, the National Health Insurance Scheme and the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty as interventions to support children and appealed to parents to take advantage of them to improve the lot of their children.
Neenyi Kofi Tagoe, Agona East District Director of the NCCE, described child labour as making a child below the age of 18 years to work above his or her strength and at the expense of his or her education.
Neenyi Tagoe said supporting parents to do their work during weekends and holidays could not be regarded as child labour provided the work is not above the child’s strength.
He said it is important for a child to have knowledge about the work their parents do.
The NCCE Director said children must not shun household chores as they served as training for their future lives.
He said the Child Labour Act (Act 560) of 1998 said the welfare of the child must be paramount to every person.
Neenyi Tagoe cautioned children below the age of 18 to refrain from doing things adults do, such as drinking alcoholic beverages, attending funerals, engaging in sex and drugs.
Source: GNA