THE IMPACT OF HEAD PORTERAGE ON THE EDUCATION OF BASIC SCHOOL GIRLS IN THE TAMALE METROPOLIS OF THE NORTHERN REGION OF GHANA

Abstract

Child Head Porterage (“Kayaye”) is a growing concern to stakeholders in education and this has necessitated the need to study its impact on girls’ education in the Tamale Metropolis. The study was guided by four objectives namely; to identify the kind of girl child engaged in head porterage, to find out the reasons or causes of girl child head in porterage, to explore the effects of head porterage on the education of girl child porters and to determine ways by which girl child porterage could be addressed in the study area. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative research strategies or approaches where questionnaires were administered to 120 head porters of basic school-going age and interviews with key stakeholders in the study area. The study found that the majority of girls engaged in head porterage were between 11-14 years. Most of them came from the Northern and the Upper East Regions. The study also revealed that household sizes, occupations of parents and conditions of public basic schools significantly influenced girls engagement in head porterage. The study further found that the head porters were punctual and regular in school and the phenomenon had insignificant impact on school attendance but academic performances of the girls involved. The study found that job creation and good parenting could be effective in addressing the phenomenon in the Tamale Metropolis. Government of Ghana needs to address the challenges of the fCUBE programme in the Tamale Metropolis to ease the financial burden of parents. Increase in job opportunities in the Metropolis would improve the financial conditions of parents, thereby reducing the reliance on girl child to supplement family income.