Regional News of Tuesday, 24 September 2013

Source: dailyguideghana.com

Gomoa school children drop out

The paramount chief of the Gomoa Akyempim Traditional Council, Obirifo Ahunako Ahor Ankobea II, has emphatically stated that records available to him indicate that nearly half of the children population in the communities in Gomoa are not in school.

According to him, parents in Gomoa feel delighted when their children complete Junior High School (JHS) which cannot even secure them any lucrative jobs.

In view of that, the Traditional Council would soon institute serious sanction against parents whose teenage children would get pregnant when in school.

He made this known at a Traditional Council General Meeting and Durbar of Chiefs and People at Gomoa Dago in the Gomoa West District of the Central Region over the weekend.

Obirifo Ankobea noted that parents would be punished to serve not only as deterrent to them but to make parents play supervisory role over their children.

“I want to remind you that when we are not there, these children would become leaders in our communities. How do we want the future of Gomoa to be if we do not take steps to educate them, we need to give them quality education above Senior High School,” he added

“It is our attitude towards education which has contributed to the high rate of teenage pregnancy because parents do not take proper supervision of their children especially their girl child,” he said.

The paramount chief stressed the need for chiefs and queens to enact bye-laws to protect children and to encourage them to learn hard as the results of BECE and WASSCE were nothing to write home about.

Obirifo Ankobea also expressed concern about the way some chiefs and landowners leased lands to estate developers.

The paramount chief hoped by 2015, all Gomoas would come together to celebrate the Ahobaa festival in style at one place in appreciation of what Ahor did for them.

The festival gives honour to the illustrious son Ahor who sacrificed his life to save the people from dying from epidemic.

The chief Gomoa Dago, Nana Eduafo VI mentioned some of the problems confronting them as water shortage, lack of electricity, inadequate premix fuel, poor road network and migration of the people to other towns to seek greener pastures, which most often, result in many deaths and sicknesses.