Some women in the Nadowli District of the Upper West Region have accused their husbands of frivolous spending on alcoholic beverages to the neglect of their children's education. This was revealed at a seminar organised under the Barclays Bank Overseas Project to solicit the views of parents on the improvement of education in the area. According to them, they had been left with the arduous task of catering for their wards' education, adding that most of them were subsistent farmers while their husbands went about on alcoholic spending sprees. One lady in the area told Joy FM that the men took to drinking only to satisfy their egos since according to her, society perceives this habit as a source of manhood. She expressed her disappointment in this belief since in the long run, the children and the family as a whole suffer the consequences. According to her, many women struggle with their husbands to make an income for their families only for the men to squander it on their parochial interests. She even claimed that some of the men went to the extent of providing financially for their girlfriends to the detriment of their families. "They've taken drinking to be one of their major habits…if you don't drink, then you are not a man," she said. "A woman will struggle with her man and as soon as the money starts pouring in, he uses the money for other things instead of the family…you see him (the husband) using it on young girls outside." The Nadowli District Director of Education, Grace Bonye stated that frivolous spending by parents was on the rise and appealed to them to channel their energies into activities that would bring far better benefits to them, such as the investment of their children's education. Source: Joy News/Ghana