GOVERNMENT’S POLICIES on education are yielding fruits as more than 30,000 children representing 96.5% in seven cocoa growing regions have started going to school.
More boys (96.8 per cent) than girls (96.1 per cent) make up this group. 2.8 per cent of children have never attended school, as 3.5 per cent of children are currently not in school. In comparison, children aged 15 years, represented the highest proportion of children who are currently attending school (98.8 per cent). This is followed by children aged 5 to 12 years (97.5 per cent) and children aged 13 to 14 years (89.0 per cent). A similar trend is observed when analysed across the regions.
A higher proportion of the children surveyed (60.7 per cent) have attained primary level of education. About 23.0 per cent of pupils have attained JHS qualification while those who attained vocational/technical level of education constitute (0.03 per cent). The gender disaggregation shows an evenly split relationship between the proportion of boys (61.3 per cent) and girls (60.0 per cent) that have attained primary education with no significant difference. Furthermore, the regional distribution analysis of the data reveals that most children have attained primary education.
This was contained in the 2021 Child Rights International (CRI) child monitoring reports launched in Accra.
Dubbed “Sustaining efforts in the elimination of child labour in cocoa communities”, this year’s survey was designed to determine the prevalence rate of child labour in some cocoa farming communities in seven regions.
The regions are Ahafo, Bono, Ashanti, Eastern, Central, Western and Western North.
The report was presented by the Executive Director of CRI, Mr. Bright Appiah.
FindingsÂ
The report indicated that a total of 33,180 children from some cocoa communities in the seven regions of Ghana are at risk of child labour.
Out of the number, 64.1 per cent are likely to be male with the remaining 35.9 per cent being females.
According to Mr. Appiah, the study focused on the percentage of children engaged in child labour, those engaged in harzardous child labour, children at risk of child labour and children engaged in worst form of child labour.
Outlining some of the findings in the report, Mr. Appiah said about 48.7 per cent of children between the ages of 5-17 years had been engaged in economic activities in the past year before the survey.
Furthermore, the results of the survey revealed that 23.3 per cent of children had engaged in cocoa farming in the past year before the survey.
“About 28.1 per cent of children are engaged in domestic chores,” Mr. Appiah added.
Per the report, he said two out of every 10 children (22.5%) were engaged in harzardous child labour activities which might be harmful to their health, safety and well-being.
“A high proportion of children (19.3%) are engaged in harzardous child labour in cocoa value chain. Also, the result shows that 64.8 per cent of children are at risk of child labour in its worst form,” Mr. Appiah indicated.
He said the results of the survey showed that 93.1 per cent of children who work on cocoa farms are engaged frequently on weekends.
Over the years, Mr. Appiah said CRI, in collaboration with its partners had devoted resources and manpower to address issues that stifled the growth and development of children.
“With the commitment to protect children and ensure that they grow in safe environment, CRI, with its partners is working to tackle the issue of child labour and child protection in the cocoa growing communities,” he added.
RecommendationsÂ
Making recommendations on how to combat child labour, Mr. Appiah said the government should coordinate planning, implementation and response to child labour activities in cocoa sector.
He also emphasised the need for regulatory bodies to ensure compliance with existing laws for curbing child labour.
Mr. Appiah also called for sensitisation of dwellers in cocoa growing communities about the safety risks and health consequences facing children working on cocoa farms.