Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has criticised the growing practice of Ghanaian parents sending their children abroad for education at an early age, arguing that it weakens their attachment to their families and to Ghana.
Speaking at the launch of the National Integrity Awards Scheme at the D.F. Annan Auditorium in Parliament on Monday, July 27, Mr Bagbin urged parents to allow their children to complete their basic and secondary education in Ghana before considering overseas studies at the postgraduate level.
Addressing the audience, the Speaker said parents who send their children abroad at a young age risk weakening the family bond and diminishing their sense of national identity.
He encouraged parents to nurture their children’s values and connection to Ghana through local education before exposing them to opportunities abroad at a later stage.
“Many of you who rush your children abroad to study, I beg you, you don’t love your children because you know you are going to lose them,” he said.
According to him, children who complete their basic and tertiary education in Ghana before pursuing master’s or doctoral studies abroad are more likely to return home.
“It’s when they study here and get to a stage of maturity, and they want to advance, and they are going to do a Master’s, PhD, and that kind of thing, then you have hope that they will come back,” he stated.
Mr Bagbin argued that children who are taken abroad at a very young age often lose their connection with their families and their sense of patriotism.
“Those you carry as babies and send there, they don’t even come to your funeral. It’s true. They don’t know you. They don’t have any attachment. They don’t like your country. There’s no patriotism there. They don’t know what a family is,” he said.
He appealed to parents to reconsider the practice, urging them to prioritise raising their children in Ghana during their formative years.
“Please, I beg you, let’s change our ways,” the Speaker said.
The launch of the National Integrity Awards Scheme is an initiative aimed at promoting integrity and ethical leadership in Ghana.
