Learning and Earning in the Context of Small-Scale Gold Mining: Examining the Compatibility of Schooling and Work in the Lives of Working Young People in Ghana

Abstract

Dominant discourses on young people's work tend to highlight the dangers associated with their work. Childhood is seen as a time for school and play and work has been tagged as unarguably incompatible with schooling depriving them enjoying their childhood and reaping the full benefits that come with their schooling. However, far from being universally negative in young people’s lives, the contribution of work particularly to their education and well-being should not be overlooked. Misleading results of policies underpinned by dominant discourses hamper the chances of some working young people to benefit from schooling and damage their chances for development. These benefits are particularly crucial to young people in difficult circumstances of poverty and impoverishment. Utilizing child-focused alongside some traditional methods, the paper gives a voice and hearing to the concerns articulated by young workers and other stakeholders. This paper attempts to highlight the creative side of their work and how some young workers are innovatively finding a balance between schooling and work. It exposes the disconnection between interventions towards young people's educational inclusion and improves well-being vis-a-vis universalised legislations targeted at abolishing their work. The paper is expected to inform a reconsideration of the conventional thinking and global policy on young people's work in the global south as some young people are indeed demonstrating work-school compatibility.