The headline may seem ridiculous yet that is the reality on the grounds. It is mesmerizing that of late, the enthusiastic search for jobs and its inconvenient scarcity is not only a hurdle for university graduates but equally a very tall bridge for less privileged JHS graduates anxious to progress in their academic transit.
In recent times, this has been the norm of which I was once a victim and a living testimony to this very development.
However, from observation, it seems blatant regardless the location that this year’s struggle exceeds the regular competition suffered by these determined young ones.
Education, they say, is the key to success. Nevertheless, possessing the keys of Junior High School obviously does not make one successful enough to unlock better proceeds in the realms of academics.
This reality has impelled multitudes in the just completed controversial BECE examination who are pessimistic of either or not attain a financial push into the next stage of their academic challenge to zealously paddle their own canoe along the shores of scanty earnings amidst insufficient parental care or negligence.
A fortnight before the examination commenced, I spent ample time to interview some of the students (whose names I can’t put across) within Accra to ascertain what they will be doing during the holidays.
It will interest you to know that shockingly, a majority of them admitted sympathetically that if they will see Senior High School at the end of the tunnel, then, there is the need for them to carry their own cross and convert their leisure hours into money seeking.
Adding to this, some of them disclosed that their parents went through severely challenging times before they could register successfully for the exams. Hence, it was reasonable for them to make such claims of despair and uncertainty.
For some of them, their independence was announced to them a long while before the time be. “My mother said she can’t foot the expenses of feeding me together with my three siblings when I complete JHS. I will do my best to support myself and her because I know how she suffers”, one boy sorrowfully shared his experience.
It is very disheartening that children as low as fourteen have to bear the burden of their academic growth.
Asking them what they could do within their might, some said, aggressively, that they could engage in any casual hawking business provided they get the needed capital. Others were ready to become shop attendants. For the quite energetic looking ones, securing a job at factory wouldn’t be beyond their capability if only the salary is quite substantial.
Shortly after the exams, I went round to observe the manifestation of their desperation on the field of hustle. I can’t confirm that a section of the humongous number of children hawking on the street comprises these courageous ones in question due to how usual that activity is.
Rather, I visited few shops, factories and other employable establishments to inquire if any of these determined young ones have knocked at their door in search of a job.
It was overwhelming to be told that quite a good number of them came to beseech their indulgence months before their graduation. After the exams, the figure is innumerable. Immediately, a barge is turned away on the grounds of immaturity and lack of expertise, a new set of seekers knock at their door.
It is rather unfortunate that some shop owners, for cheap labor, will capitalize on the situation. One girl I met at a shop confided that her madam promised to pay her Ghc 100.00 a month if she is able to make good sales without shortage.
The situation has become pervasive to an extent that ironically, those in our villages are exceedingly anxious to temporarily migrate to the city to work in the interim.
A friend of mine, a taxi driver, disclosed that two of his relatives in the hinterlands are constantly pestering him to allow their children come to stay with him in Accra all in the name of job acquisition amidst financial crisis.
In fact, if this will be the plight of our innocent children who are Ghanaians by chance and our future as well, then, as a country, we are not matured and caring enough.
It is a big shame to us all as parents and as leaders for making the situation traditional in the sense that life at all levels is supposed to be a struggle and it is the fittest that survives it. As far as our tomorrow is not well nurtured today, our future is bleak as a developing country.
On the other hand, does this infer that perhaps these children should fail in their short- term quest for finance; their academic journey will be brought to a premature destination?
Are we not breeding criminals and peccancy for which we are the same people to bear its negative repercussions? It is our concern. Why? Because they will spare their families and attack us if they should eventually become criminals. You and I will bear its regretful consequences.
In turbulent moments as this, it is highly possible that some opportunists and sadists, having malicious intensions, will entice these children with money and use them unacceptably.
I therefore use this platform to appeal to NGOs and our well to do citizens to assist in sponsoring some of these young ones into any SHS within their capacity.
Again, I humbly appeal to GES to price admission fees low and ensure that it is strictly applied by all schools, regardless their pedigree, in the country.
Let’s take note that our future leaders are not to be blamed for their desperation. It is rather society that has failed them woefully.
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