Madam, - I share the views of Joe Humphreys and John O'Shea in relation to many of the intractable and complex problems facing Africa (March 3rd and 10th).
Yet, somewhat paradoxically, the answers to some of these problems are quite simple. One is free education. I have spent much time in Ghana, am married to a Ghanaian and have a deep love for the land and its people.
According to UNICEF's 2004 report The State of the World's Children, Ghana has primary school enrolment rates of close to 58 per cent for boys and girls. Yet enrolment rates at secondary level are only 40 per cent for boys and 34 per cent for girls. The main issue here is that the cost of schooling can be prohibitively expensive, even in so-called "free" state schools, for families whose income is often not more than €1 a day.
Families who struggle to pay school fees at primary level often cannot sustain the commitment through secondary level with the result that children, particularly girls, leave school to pay their keep.
The benefits of keeping children, especially girls, in school up to 16 and longer cannot be underestimated in terms of tackling poverty, teenage pregnancies and HIV infection rates, instilling hope, sustaining communities and contributing towards employment creation.
Ghana is a vibrant, modern African country with vast mineral, marine and agricultural resources, yet most of its people live in poverty. Bad governance and the power and influence of the country's elites and multinational corporations have undoubtedly, occasionally unwittingly, sustained inequalities.
They and the country's aid partners must invest in the country's future - the education of its children. - Yours, etc,
PAUL STEWART, The Liberties, Dublin 8.