Open Forum
New Delhi, 6 July 2017
Child Labour
EXPANDING EDUCATION VITAL
By Dr Oishee Mukherjee
India recently
ratified two fundamental conventions against child labour -- the Minimum Age
Convention 1973 (No.138) and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention 1999
(No. 182) -- at the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva. With
this, the nation became the 175th member of the 187 member States to
do so.
Further,
the country reiterates its commitment to the Child and Labour (Prohibition and
Prevention) amendment Act, passed last year which completely prohibits
employment or work of children below 14 years in any occupation or process and
also prohibits the employment of adolescents (14 to 18 years) for hazardous
occupations and processes. Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya who was in Geneva
was upbeat about the ratification by the government and stated that it “maintained
that elimination of child labour is crucial for the attainment of sustainable
development goals by 2010”.
While theoretically
speaking the fresh action needs to be lauded and welcomed, the situation at the
grass-root level does need to be examined thoroughly. It is a known fact that a
significant percentage of children do not go to school and even if they do,
their attendance is erratic. The problem of drop-outs from Class III to Class V
is no secret. Most of these children either work as farm labourers, or where
their parents work or in some relative’s farm. While a section may work on a
part time basis, others may do full time to add to the family’s meagre income.
In the present situation,
however, the recent ban may not drastically change the reality and have much effect.
The fact is that unless poverty is tackled effectively, child labour cannot be
abolished totally. This is somewhat akin to removing liquor shops a little
distance from State highways but such actions do not stop drivers from drinking
as they just drive for around four-five minutes, or even less, and find a
liquor shop!
For
much of human history and across different cultures, children less than 17
years old have contributed to family welfare in a variety of ways. Though one
cannot deny that poverty and impoverishment in Third World countries is the
biggest cause of child labour, the lack of availability of schools in the neighbourhood
and an environment conducive to the promotion of education, has further
resulted in child labour. A BBC report, similarly, concluded that poverty
and inadequate public education infrastructure are some of the causes of child
labour in India.
Delving
on to statistics, the last year four years have actually seen stagnation, if
not an increase, in the prevalence of child labour. Last year, the UN reported
that 168 million children across the world were still being ruthlessly
exploited despite stringent laws against child labour. Added to this is
the alarming situation in recent years of child refugees and trafficking, the
latter problem having taken severe dimensions in the country.
According
to a 2008 study conducted by the ILO, among the most important factors driving
children to harmful labour is the lack of availability and quality of
schooling. Even when schools are sometimes available, they are too far away and
difficult to reach or the quality of education is so poor that parents wonder
if sending their kids to school is really worthwhile. In government-run primary
schools, even when children show up, government-paid teachers play truant around
25 per cent of the time.
The
study suggests that illiteracy resulting from a child going to work, rather
than a quality primary and secondary school, limits the child’s ability to get the
basic educational grounding which would in normal situations enable him/her to
acquire skills and to improve prospects for a decent adult working life.
Though
in India, welfare
schemes such as MGNREGA and Mid-Day Meal Scheme have led to a rise in enrolment
of children in schools and a small drop in child labour, the problem persists in
our country, specially in the northern and central regions.
One
cannot deny the fact, as the ILO report rightly pointed out there are
tremendous economic benefits for developing nations by sending children to
school instead of work. Without education, children do not gain the necessary
skills such as English literacy and technical aptitude that will increase their
productivity to enable them to secure some sort of skilled jobs in the
manufacturing and allied sectors.
Indeed,
for a drastic improvement in the country, education at the grass root has to be
transformed with effective participation by the panchayats and more importantly
with the involvement of community-based organizations. The latter can only
relay the significance of education to the poor and impoverished sections.
Though the labour component of children in household work and sometimes farming
activities may continue, reaching out to all through education is an imperative
necessity.
There have been some
experts who wonder that given the fact that unemployment in the country is around
210 million, why should children have to work at all? The answer is quite
simple. For example small farmers who do not have the resources to employ
people choose to engage their children to help them. The situation has to
change but then there has to be more allocation of funds for children and
primary education to usher in effectively this change.
Children are the
future torch-bearers of the country and they have to be properly nurtured. But
this does not mean sending the sons only to school but also concentrating on
education of daughters and making them capable in life. One may mention here
that the UN recently awarded the ‘Kanyashree
Prakalpa’ of the West Bengal programme as the best programme of empowering
the girl child which is aimed at spreading education among
girls.
The
UN has played a significant role by taking a world-wide campaign against child
labour and this is expected to yield results, if only the governments at the
grass root level extends effective support. There is no need to lose hope and
concerted efforts by all stakeholders should help in steadily bring reduce
child labour in the coming years. ---INFA
(Copyright, India
News and Feature Alliance)
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