Basic school students abandon school to work on wee farms

Basic school learners in parts of the Volta Region are reportedly skipping their classrooms, not for tech jobs or apprenticeships, but to work as laborers on marijuana plantations for meager earnings.

At a recent meeting of the Volta Region House of Chiefs, President of the Volta Region House of Chiefs and Paramount Chief of Anfoega, Togbe Tepre Hodo IV, revealed a disturbing trend that children in Vakpo, Wusuta, and Gbefi are skipping school to labor on fast-spreading marijuana plantations.

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The plantations located in areas such as Vakpo, Wusuta (North Dayi District), and Gbefi (Kpando Municipality) are expanding rapidly, raising concerns over the future of the region’s youth.

Togbe Tepre Hodo said, “Some of the children are offered the substance to smoke on the farms, and once addiction sets in, they would definitely drift off course.”

He added that the cultivation being done is illicit; although the Narcotics Control Commission Act allows for licensed cultivation of specific cannabis species for medicinal and industrial use only, many farmers are growing marijuana illegally for recreational use.

The Paramount Chief of Vakpo, Togbe Gbogbolulu V, described the situation as “out of hand.” He said, “The young marijuana farmers are now attacking us physically, and several complaints to the police have fallen on deaf ears.”

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Law enforcement has largely ignored complaints, leaving communities in a state of fear and frustration.

This trend is linked to increasing school dropouts and an erosion of traditional values, with some families depending on the income from these marijuana farms.

The Volta Regional Minister, James Gunu, who attended the VRHC meeting, has pledged to work with chiefs to restore order.