Educators and concerned community leaders in Yei River County in Central Equatoria State have called upon local authorities to regulate sports betting and gambling to stop minors from wagering.

This call follows reports that learners, some in primary school, have taken up the habit of betting and often absent themselves from school to go to betting shops.

A primary school teacher in Yei town who only identified herself as Madam Betty told Radio Tamazuj over the weekend that pupils often arrive at school late, miss classes and even drop out of school because they spend a lot of time at betting.

She said many pupils and students have ended up using their school fees for placing bets to the detriment of their education.

“What I have seen with the children nowadays is that they come to school late, absent themselves from class, and some of them are sent home by the administration because of betting and gambling. The children are given money for school fees by their parents but they bet it,” she explained. “When we later send them home because they have not paid fees, their parents come and say they gave the money to the pupils to come and pay at the school. That is when we realize that the money has gone for betting, the gambling that is now in the streets.”

“The categories of pupils involved in betting are those who are now maturing, from primary five to eight, who misuse their school fees,” Madam Betty added.

She said some pupils even drop out of school because they earn from betting.

“You know children are easily tempted when they start seeing sources where they can get small money like from betting,” Betty said. “Some of them think that they have now made it in life and decide to drop out of school and this is affecting our education system.”

On his part, Yei River County Youth Association Chairman Johnson Poru echoed the call for the government to institute regulations and policies that halt minors from bookmaking.

“The issue of gambling is another threat to society as most of the young people, including children, are now involved. This is quite unfortunate because if children are allowed to gamble and bet, they will have no future,” he said. “So, I want to call on the government to look into this matter and develop policies that can stop children from participating in gambling. Betting requires money before you can win something. Sometimes these young people resort to stealing. When they become thieves, they will end up robbing and in the process even killing.”

According to Poru, most youths have resorted to betting and gambling because of the prevalent poverty and tough economic times.

“The cause of this gambling is poverty. The economic situation is bad and we have the returnees who are coming from the refugee camps and they are idle and have limited resources,” he elucidated. “They find it hard to send children to school and as such the children stay at home without proper food and guidance and they resort to gambling.”

“The issue needs to be addressed by all of us, including the government,” Poru added.

Meanwhile, Hawa Adam, an activist who is a member of the Yei River County Women Association, said it has come to their notice as women that most children, especially boys from primary and secondary schools, are not attending classes because of betting.

“As women, we have noticed that boys are now losing their way and not attending school because they spend their time betting. As parents, Let us talk to our children about the dangers of betting,” she said. “When you are a child, you know nothing about making money and you are not the one to look for it.”

“Some children have even resorted to stealing money from their parents for betting,” Adam added.

Last year, Jenty Poni, a parliamentarian representing Morobo County in the Transitional National Assembly raised an alarm about underage betting and warned that many children were dropping out of school because of the vice.

However, Mawa Joseph, a branch manager of one of the betting companies in Yei town, said, some of the children sneak into the betting shops when the policeman guarding the premises goes for his lunch break. He added that some of the younger punters send adults to place bets for them.

“We stay inside the betting shop and the only person who chases away the children is the policeman that we brought for that purpose. Children cannot enter to bet but they sometimes send adults to bet for them. We operate legally and are licensed by the government,” he explained. “We want to work together with the government to address this issue of underage people betting because betting is addictive and sometimes a child is given school fees and bets it and parents come to us and complain that betting is spoiling their children.”

Efforts to reach the county authorities were futile.