Children Balancing Work With School: A Sociocultural Conception of Child Work and Schooling in Cape Coast Metropolitan Area, Ghana

Abstract

This study looks into the sociocultural conception of child work and schooling by studying children who are combining work with school in Cape Coast metropolitan area in Ghana. The study is based on the assumption that to understand children who are concurrently working and schooling, we must study the lives and the position of these children in their sociocultural context. The present study is based on data from semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, participant observations and my personal experience. Qualitative analysis of the data indicated five major themes from the responses of the research participants. These are intergenerational relations, work as a cultural tool for rearing children, school as a setting to prepare children for their future lives, changing functions of work and school knowledge and contention between work and school. The study finds that the children see everything they do in a future lifespan perspective which influences their participation in work and school activities.