Girls in Mining in Ghana: Surviving Without Flourishing

Abstract

Child labour is endemic in Africa and remains one of the biggest challenges facing Ghana. Child labour, by definition in Ghana’s Children’s Act, 1998 (Act 560) refers to (harmful) work by children below the age of 18 years. Yet for many children and their families, child labour is a very important coping mechanism that helps them to fight poverty. Some scholars are beginning to soften their hardline stance on child labour, suggesting that many working children have successfully completed school. This report shares findings on an exploratory study of 165 girls under 18 years working in artisanal gold mines in Akwatia in the Eastern Region and Tarkwa in the Western Region in Ghana. Descriptive statistics from the study revealed that the majority of girls in mining were able to support themselves financially but simply could not cope with regular school, to be able to make positive advancements in their social development. Thus the girls were able to survive but could hardly flourish under the circumstances. Thus the observation that it is possible to successfully combine school and work among children therefore is subject to the conditions under which this occurs, and requires further field study.