The Politics of choice: Dilemmas of school children in Artisanal Gold Mining areas in the Amenfi West District of Ghana

Topic: The Politics of choice: Dilemmas of school children in Artisanal Gold Mining areas in the Amenfi West District of Ghana

Authors: Kwarteng Isaac and E. T. Amanor-Lartey

Abstract

This paper probes the symbiotic relationship between small scale mining and education in the Amenfi West District of the Western Region of Ghana. It exposes the dangers inherent in artisanal mining to school children engaged in the activity. The net effect of artisanal mining is that the phenomenon has taken precedence over formal education of children of school going age in the mining communities. This phenomenon is blamed on poverty and lack of parental care. This paper argues that artisanal small scale mining is not only dangerous to children but presents a bleak future of the Amenfi West District since the chunk of children have neglected and relegated education to the background.