Galamsey, the local term for illegal mining in Ghana which is carried out through various mechanisms to extract gold and other mineral resources is on the rise.

People who engage in this kind of activity are known to be workers from the recognized commercial mining companies in the country; hence making their activities illegal.

Under the national constitution, it is illegal for those who engage in galamsey to dig on lands leased to mining companies on concessions or licenses; yet, they flout the law and proceed with their illicit activities on these lands. After digging out the soil, they find gold in free metallic dust form and process it into oxide or sulphide gold ore using liquid mercury.

The actual number of galamsey operations in Ghana is unknown, but it is believed to range from 20,000 to 50,000 in communities where there are substantial reserves of gold deposits; usually within the environs of the larger mining companies.

Most young people, including children, are noted to engage in such activities with the mindset of making ‘quick money’. The womenfolk in galamsey, mostly act as porters, the men engage in the tough job of digging, while the children run errands to speed up the operation.

Sadly, this form of mining records high rate of accidents and are exposed to mercury poisoning from their crude processing methods, but they do not consider these effects.

According to a special report on the cost of galamsey in the country by Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), a visit to the illegal small-scale mining areas in the Ashanti and Central regions recently revealed an unbelievably vast area of degraded lands and polluted rivers. Apart from the negative effects of the galamsey activities on their lives, it poses many threats to our natural resources, notably land and water bodies.

The idea of acquiring money the easy way has been the main motivation of children who engage in the illegal mining activities. As a result, young people in mining communities do not value the significance of education; hence, choose galamsey over education.

A report by Daily Guide on May 4, 2015 with the headline “Pupils Abandon School For Galamsey” revealed that, indeed galamsey has become the biggest factor that hinder children’s enjoyment of their educational right.

It was revealed in the report that, many children of school going age have abandoned their classrooms and are now into full time illegal mining activities, due to cash benefits that come with these activities, despite the associated risks.

Moreover, the enrollment figures in most basic schools in the district Daily Guide observed were declining drastically as pupils had put on hold their plans to pursue formal education to chase ‘quick money.’ (Read the story here: http://www.dailyguideghana.com/pupils-abandon-school-for-galamsey/)

These children not knowing the threats they pose to their environment pursue illicit small scale mining in search for gold. Most of them also are lured into it by the cash their siblings and other elderly people make from the activity after quitting school to join galamsey.

It has become rather worrisome to note that the popularity of illegal mining has gotten to the level where even candidates who are about writing examination that can guarantee them entrance to the secondary school abandon the exams for mining.

According to Rawgist.com, four candidates who were writing the 2015 Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) at the Mensonso D/A Junior High School (JHS) in the Adansi South District of the Ashanti Region have abandoned their examinations to engage in this illegal Mining.

It was estimated that, out of the 253 who registered for the examination, 248 candidates were present as four male students were said to have abandoned school to join their colleagues at the Galamsey pits.

Read more here: http://rawgist.com/2015/06/16/candidates-abandon-bece-for-galamsey-activities)

One can come to the conclusion that, the low attendance of school and participation in educational activities by children in mining communities across the country is as a result of the delusion that they can get rich quick through galamsey than following the long route of Education to achieve the objectives and make money; an indication that they do not understood the essence of education.

This is indeed a wake-up to the Ghana Education Service (GES), the Ministry of Education, stakeholders and other non-governmental organizations to organize public education in these mining communities to educate their young ones on the need to make education a priority.