Economy
Children of Ghana make up a huge part of the economy. These children work to go and to stay in school, as well as help support their families. Many of the children in Ghana attend school in the early part of the day during the week. These children work on the streets and at small stands to help support their families, and pay for schooling. I observed a plethora of children working on the weekend when there was no school. I also noticed that girls were seen more often than young boys, and there is a reason behind this. Boys are more encouraged than girls to attend school because it is believed that men are the sole providers of the family. A family will pay for a young boy to go to school so girls; a lot of times have to earn money to send themselves to school.
It is very important for Ghanaian children to go to school, because later in life they can attend a good university and help their family live a better life than what they are living. These children have to work to stay in school. Their parents’ salaries alone can not support their families as well as pay for school, especially if there are more than one or two children in a household. These children are boosting the economy as well as paying for a good education.
There are also children who work to go to school. These children are on the streets selling food, drinks, clothing, flint, and other things so that they can earn enough money to attend a local primary or secondary school. Sometimes these children give a story about them needing money to go to school, and in actually do not have any intensions in attending school. These children are smart because they know foreigners will fall for their sad stories and either donate money to them or buy an item from them. These children are known as the street children. Some of these children are homeless and sometimes do not have a family to go home to, so they support themselves by working in the streets. These children often work for survival; they have to work to live, even if it means to exploit foreigners.
There are also children or teenagers who part take in illegal activities to make money. These jobs include drug dealing and prostitution. For some of these children this is the last resort to survive. These children are highly uneducated, and can not speak the national Ghanaian language, which is English. These children are uneducated so the only things they know how to do are these illegal jobs. Education is important for the Ghanaian society, and to boost economy, children most go to school. To go to school children must boost the economy, it’s a never ending circle.