Ho, Dec. 13, GNA - Teachers have been urged to use their influence, stature and techniques in support of efforts at curtailing the menace of child trafficking at the community level.
Mr Ebenezer Aggrey, a Principal Investigator of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), made the call during discussions on the topic "Human trafficking: A concern for the teacher" at a two-day Trainer of Trainers workshop for lady teachers in Ho on Wednesday.
The workshop was organized by the Life Rescue Mission (LSM) a non-governmental organization on the theme: "Campaign against domestic human rights abuse: Using Female teachers as models and guides". Mr Aggrey urged teachers to make themselves approachable and accessible to their pupils and take interest in circumstances surrounding them.
He said teachers should be concerned about child trafficking because a child who is trafficked loses the right to education. Mr Aggrey said the absence of pupils from school, habitual lateness and irregular attendance at school among others could provide useful clues as to whether those pupils were victims of trafficking. He said pupils themselves through their conversation with their teachers could give useful information pointing to a child having been trafficked out of or into the community.
Mr Aggrey said open-days, myself essays and similar school activities provided avenues for obtaining information on trafficked children.
He said it was mandatory for anybody with information on a trafficked child or person to report to the Police and also inform state institutions such as the CHRAJ and non-governmental organizations, which focus on human rights.
According to Mr Aggrey, the involvement of family members in child trafficking was no excuse to refuse to report their conduct to the appropriate authorities because 93the child is a Ghanaian whose rights are protected by the laws of the country,=94 saying that poverty was no excuse for trafficking a child.
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