Low level of education in cocoa growing areas

Kumasi, Aug. 13, GNA - A survey conducted last year by the National Programme to Eliminate Worst Forms of Child Labour in Cocoa (NPECLC), has revealed that about 54 per cent of school going children in cocoa communities are unable to read and write.

This is in spite of the fact that school enrolment and attendance rates in these areas have improved significantly. Professor Daniel Buor, Provost, College of Arts and Social Sciences of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), made the findings public at the 2nd Partners' Forum organised by NPECLC in Kumasi on Wednesday.

The survey, he said, raised questions about the quality of education in the cocoa communities, which is a cause for concern for all. Participants at the forum where drawn from Non Governmental Organizations (NGO's) and institutions that implement child labour programmes in cocoa growing areas.

They discussed pragmatic policies and measures that would help eliminate worst form of child labour in the country. Prof. Buor called for interventions that would be tailored towards promoting formal education of children and equal opportunities. He urged media practitioners to continue educating and drawing public attention to the need to avoid all forms of child abuse in the Ghanaian society.

Mrs Rita Owusu-Amankwah, the National Programme Manager of the NPECLC, said Ghana had received international recognition and commendation for the commitment it had shown towards fighting the child labour menace.

"Now patronage of Ghana's cocoa by international trade partners is no more threatened and this laudable achievement should be sustained since our partners are watching us with eagle-eye," she noted. She called for stronger partnership among the participants and the District Assemblies to curb the menace. Nana Adusei Poku, Akyempimhene of Kumasi, who chaired the function, said it was important to address the educational imbalance.

Source:
GNA

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