Nana Amoasi Okatekyi II, the Sanaahen of Abura State in the Abura Asebu Kwamankese (AAK) District of the Central Region has rallied the support of all stakeholders to stem the rate at which school children in the area were abandoning school for hunting.

He described the phenomenon as a drawback to the Government’s efforts to provide free and accessible education to every child of school going age in the country.

"The children here are no longer interested in going to school,” he said.
“They prefer hunting, harvesting of coconut, drivers mate and other menial works to sitting in the classroom to study to enable them become responsible adults,” he bemoaned.

The Chief was speaking at a town hall meeting organised by the Central Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), in collaboration with the AAK District Assembly at Abura-Dunkwa on Wednesday.

Nana Okatekyi blamed the situation on irresponsible parents, who had woefully failed to perform their duties and obligations to their children, which forced the children to go the extra mile to fend for themselves.

He reminded parents about the need to pay particular attention to the education of their children in order to provide them a secured future.
The Children, according to him, were gifts from God and therefore parents must devote the needed attention towards their development and ensure that they grew to become responsible adults.

Nana Okatekyi announced plans to ban school children in the area from watching video films at commercial cinema houses and attending wake-keeping, to ensure that they stuck to their books to avoid indulging in immorality activities that could jeopardise their future.

He spoke of the need to strengthen supervision in the schools and called on stakeholders in education to collaborate in seeking solutions to challenges bedevilling the educational sector in the District.

Touching on the impact of drug abuse, Mr. Emmanuel Ofori Osei, a Regulatory Officer with the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), reminded sellers of accredited drugs on the need to keep to best practices, seek regular information, and operate within the confines of the law, to safeguard their operations.

They were urged to keep proper invoicing, records, tidy environment and desist from selling unlicensed and unauthorised drugs especially to kids.

The FDA assured that it would continue to collaborate with other government and security agencies to plug loopholes and help end the influx of illegal and unlicensed drugs, food and other items under their supervision.