The government of Ghana has announced that the first twenty days of this month has been set aside to celebrate this year’s World’s Day against Child’s Labour.
The celebration which actually falls on June 12, 2015 will be held on the theme, “No to Child Labour-Yes to Quality Education.”
In a press statement signed by Haruna Iddrisu, the Member of Parliament for Tamale South who also doubles as the Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, the minister said they have begun an elaborate preparation to mark the day.
The theme according to him, elaborates on the right of every child in Ghana to be protected against any work that may pose threat to his/her health, education or development.
This theme he said is appropriate because the 2015 international community will be reviewing reasons for the failure to achieve development targets in education.
According to a report on Child Labour conducted by Ghana Living Standard Survey Round 6 (GLSS6) between October 18, 2012 and October 17, 2013 and released by the Ghana Statistical Service, out of 8,697,602 children ranging from the ages between five and 17 years, 2,476,177 are working children, 1,892,553 are in Child Labour, with 1,231,286 partaking in hazardous Child Labour activities.
Also, the report shows that 20.1% of the children currently attending school were engaged in Child Labour activities and states that 39.9% of males and 31.2% of female children who were engaged in Child Labour were out of school.
“There is also the need for new efforts to ensure that national policies on Child Labour and education are consistent and effective, as well as calls for the need to ensure access to quality education and investment in the teaching profession.
“The social partners can assist the government in integrating Child Labour concerns into the design, implementation and monitoring of national policies and ensure that Child Labour issues are addressed more effectively.”
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