Kampala — Several students in Tiira parish in Busitema Busia district have withdrawn from schools by their parents to go and working g in the gold mining fields.

Tom Etaru Ekisa the Busitema sub county LC 3 chairperson told the new vision in an interview on Thursday that over 500 children both in primary and secondary school had abandoned school and were pounding gold stones in the Tiira gold fields.

The local residents engaged in the gold mining business employ the children Etaru said adding that the children were doing it with the consent of their parents because no single parents had reported the cases to the authorities.

He explained that the food shortage that has hit the area since the beginning of this year had prompted parents to allow their children to go and work in order to get the daily bread.