Absenteeism of students in Galamsey towns on the rise – NAGRAT
The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has attributed the ever-increasing absenteeism of students in various government schools in mining communities to the activities of illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey.
Speaking on Citi Breakfast Show monitored by Pretertiary.com, President of the teacher union, Angel Carbonu said that students in galamsey endemic communities are not regular in school, which he said affects teaching and learning.
“Students are not even regular in schools in mining communities because they see that engaging in galamsey brings them immediate money than they can ever dream of as students and this is affecting teaching and learning in the schools,” he said.
Describing the fight against the galamsey menace, hard to win, Carbonu said “The beneficiaries of this illegal mining are the political persons who have the means to purchase machines to employ the youth to engage in the destruction of our environment.”
The Association of Graduate Teachers President therefore called on the government to, among other things, ban all forms of small-scale mining and stop the issuance of licences for the prospecting of gold in waterbodies and forest reserves.
“When you find yourself in crisis, you take measures to stop the bleeding so you ban all small-scale mining activities nationwide. Call for the withdrawal of all machinery from the bushes, forests, and rural areas.
Identify persons engaged in this illegality and punish them according to law. Stop immediately, the issuance of licenses for the prospecting of gold or whatever it is and also for mining in this country,” he told the host of Citi Breakfast Show.
Relatedly, a teacher union, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has also joined the campaign for the government to immediately halt operations of illegal mining activities, popularly known as galamsey in the country.
The pre-tertiary teacher union (GNAT) among other demands has urged the central government to Immediately declare a state of emergency and evacuate all mining equipment from forest reserves and water bodies.
The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has also asked the government to revoke Law 2462 and withdraw all mining and prospecting licenses in forests, protected reserves, and water bodies in the country.
The teacher union as part of effective measures to end the illegal mining activities has urged the government to deploy Police and Military to remove and destroy all mining and earth-moving equipment in river bodies and forest reserves.