Sports betting has become a major threat to Ghana's child education goals - Study

With sports betting spreading very furiously across the country, Ghana must ensure that it continues to widen the distance between gambling and education centres.

In November 2022, the Baraka Policy Institute (BPI), a non-profit organisation with special focus on promoting social justice and national development, released its findings on the effects of sports betting on child education.

These findings were from a study titled “Effect of Sports Betting on Education and Child Development in Ghana”, conducted in selected communities in Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi and Tamale.

According to the study, sports betting had become a major threat to Ghana’s child education goals, with many minors now indulged in under-aged gambling. Even more disturbing is the discovery that a lot of these kids visit betting houses during school hours.

One of the reasons given for this truant behaviour is the proximity of betting houses to educational facilities.

Ghanaian laws prohibit gambling houses from being within 500 metres of schools, but this has been poorly enforced in recent times, resulting in betting houses now being almost side by side with educational centres.

This has not only made sports betting very accessible to school children, it has also encouraged truancy in school.

Ghana must sit up and act before things get worse.

While it is undeniable that gambling, especially sports betting, is now firmly embedded in Ghanaian society, and is definitely here to stay, we can still exert a level of control on such activities, especially on minors.

It starts with the government updating our gambling laws and cracking down on under age gambling (not just by lip and paper service, but also by action), to parents being more watchful on how their kids spend their time.

Betting companies also need to be more aware and responsible with their activities. A lot of betting sites in Ghana have adopted the responsible gambling buzz phrase, but many of them aren’t exactly practising what they preach.

There are a few good ones, some of which are listed on Ghana’s premier betting affiliate website, My Betting Sites Ghana, but many others aren’t quite up to scratch in this area.

The government needs to be more thorough with its responsible gambling policies, and issue heavy sanctions to operators that do not comply.

It is grossly irresponsible of an operator to set up a facility close to a school.

Educational institutions also have the task of enlightening kids on the dangers of sports betting.

This particular case of children abandoning their studies for betting houses during school hours is damaging on many fronts. Not only will their education be severely stunted, they are also exposed to the mental, social and financial problems associated with gambling at a very early age.

Ghana needs to do a much better job of keeping our children away from gambling houses.