The Member of Parliament for the Odododiodio Constituency, Nii Lante Vanderpuye has attributed the high school dropout rates among pupils in James Town, a suburb of Accra to the mindset of residents in the area.
Citi FM’s Nana Boakye-Yiadom last week reported on troubling situation in James Town and the consequences on the future of children in the area.
The report revealed that a lot of the children who live in the area had dropped out of school to fish or sell while teenage pregnancy was also common.
James Town is a predominantly fishing community with high levels of urban poverty.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show about the issues raised in the report, the MP for the constituency who is also the Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development said, the parents in the community preferred spending on funerals instead of educating their children.
“There are people who when they have a funeral do not mind going to borrow for the funeral for three days of enjoyment and activity buying (funeral) cloth for the different days. On Monday they come asking for school fees from me,” he stated.
Nii Lante Vanderpuiye said the parents must be taught the essence of giving their children good formal education describing it as the only solution to the challenge at hand.
He said “We need to put in a lot of effort in changing the mindset of the people in making them understand that there is more gain in investing that ten or twenty Cedis in your child’s education which will guarantee the child a better education than buying a cloth for a funeral that you cannot use after the funeral. There are many people who have a lot of funeral cloths in their wardrobe but their children are at home because they cannot afford their children’s school fees. We have to educate the parents.”
James Town is one of the several areas along the coastline of Ghana where parents prefer to push their children into fishing for financial gain instead of schooling.
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By: Duke Mensah Opoku/citifmonline.com/Ghana