Hopeson Adorye, the Director of Field Operations for the United Party, has urged the government to introduce strict laws to hold parents accountable when their children skip school to engage in illegal mining (galamsey).

Speaking on the JoyNews AM Show, Adorye emphasised that while the government plays a crucial role in promoting education, parents also have a significant responsibility. He questioned the tendency to blame the government entirely for school absenteeism.

“Is it the responsibility of the government to make sure children are in the classroom, or the responsibility of the parents? In this country, we have pushed everything onto the government. If a child is doing something wrong, we blame the government, and then we leave out the parents, whose responsibility is to ensure their children are in school,” he said.

He argued that without parental accountability, efforts to curb child involvement in illegal mining and betting would likely fail.

“I will say that there should be a strict law that will even deal with parents who allow their kids to go into this galamsey business. Without that, I don’t think we have a solution,” he added.

To reinforce his point, Mr Adorye noted that in other countries, parents face legal consequences if their children skip school.

“Elsewhere, if a child is not in the classroom, the parents are responsible. The law will deal with you because you are expected to make sure your child is in school. When you leave them to go and be involved in galamsey and other activities, that is what happens,” he said.

His remarks come amid recent reports that galamsey and betting are keeping about 70% of children in Northern Ghana out of school.