Don't load children with chores - Prof Sarpei

Accra, 25 Aug., GNA - Professor James Sarpei, Executive Director of Centre for Community Studies, Action and Development (CENCOSAD) a nongovernmental organisation (NGO), on Thursday said children loaded with household chores normally performed poorly at school. He said many children had to sell or wake up early at dawn to do chores and ended up sleeping in class or suffered emotional stress that prevented them from concentrating on their studies. Prof Sarpei was speaking to about 200 parents, who had watched a drama entitled "Stop Child Labour", which CENCOSAD staged at King-Shorna at James Town in Accra to create awareness in the area to reduce child labour.

He said many children had to sell or wake up early at dawn to do chores, which made then unable to study in the house. It was sad to use children for economic activity because of poverty and in the long run plunging their future into a deeper poverty. Prof Sarpei said education was the key element in preventing the children from walking into poverty and, therefore, urged parents to send their children to school since basic education was now free. He said children less than 15 years who worked damaged their physical, emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual growth and brought no hope to them making their future gloomy. 25 Aug. 05