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Theme.
This year the World Day against Child Labour will be marked around the world with activities to raise awareness that Education is the right response to child labour.
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Child labour is closely associated with poverty. A poor family may be unable to afford school fees or other school costs. The family may depend on the contribution that a working child makes to the household’s income, and place more importance on that than on education. And when a family has to make a choice between sending either a boy or girl to school, it is often the girl who loses out.
According to global estimates by the ILO some 165 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are involved in child labour. Many of these children work long hours, often in dangerous conditions.
Education is every child's right. Every year that a child attends school reduces the chance that they will end up in economic servitude. To end child labour worldwide , all children must be guaranteed a full time formal education.
Some Facts
• On a global scale there are 218 million child labourers – according to the ILO’s definition
• 126 million children work under dangerous circumstances
• 191 million child labourers are between the ages of 5 and 14
• 74 million of them work under dangerous circumstances
• About 69% work in agriculture
• About 20% work in services
• About 10% work in industry
• For every Euro we invest in education, we will earn back seven Euro in terms of economic growth (ILO)
Definitions of ‘child labour’
"Child labour" is, generally speaking, work for children, that harms them or exploits them in some way (physically, mentally, morally, or by blocking access to education).
But there is no universally accepted definition of ‘child labour’. International organizations, non-governmental organizations, trade unions and other interest groups use varying definitions of the term.
For instance: International conventions adopted by the United Nations and the International Labour Organization define "child" as anyone below the age of 18, and "child labour" as some types of work performed by children below age 18. And yet ILO conventions variously define the appropriate minimum age of work as age 15 or under 14 in developing nations; while, in another convention, the definition of the "worst" forms of work applies to all children under age 18. Governments, adding to the confusion, do not always use 18 as the cut-off point for defining a "child." International organizations such as Unicef, and some social scientists make a distinction between "child work" (not objectionable) and "child labour" (objectionable).
Not all work is bad for children. Some social scientists point out that some kinds of work may be completely unobjectionable. For instance, a child who delivers newspapers before school might actually benefit from learning how to work, gaining responsibility, and a bit of money. But what if the child is not paid? Then he or she is being exploited. As Unicef’s 1997 State of the World’s Children Report puts it, "Children’s work needs to be seen as happening along a continuum, with destructive or exploitative work at one end and beneficial work - promoting or enhancing children’s development without interfering with their schooling, recreation and rest - at the other. And between these two poles are vast areas of work that need not negatively affect a child’s development." Other social scientists have slightly different ways of drawing the line between acceptable and unacceptable work.
International conventions also define "child labour" as activities such as soldiering and prostitution. Not everyone agrees with this definition. Some child workers themselves think that illegal work (such as prostitution) should not be considered in the definition of "child labour." The reason: These child workers would like to be respected for their legal work, because they feel they have no other choice but to work. For further discussion of this dispute, see New Internationalist Magazine, No. 292, July 1997 issue on Child Labour.
To avoid confusion, when writing or speaking about "child labour," it’s best to explain exactly what you mean by child labour — or, if someone else is speaking, ask for a definition. This website uses the first definition cited in this section: "Child labour" is work for children under age 18 that in some way harms or exploits them (physically, mentally, morally, or by blocking children from education).
What is the most important reason for children to work instead of attending schools?
Child labour is not just a matter of poverty. Apart from the income of the family other factors play an important role in the decision of parents to send their children to school or to work. Experience from India shows that the exclusion of certain groups, existing social norms, tradition, parental ignorance, indifference from the government and no education system (or a badly run education system) are the main determinants for parents not to send their children to school. According to Shantha Sinha, director of the MV Foundation, child labour exists in communities where:
• there is no tradition to send children to schools and little social pressure to be able to do so;
• existing social norms accept child labour, parents do not have an alternative and employers take advantage of the situation;
• the educational system does not want to register and educate poor, lower class children;
Why is education so important?
Education is the key to poverty reduction and full citizenship. Quality education provides children with dignity, offers them a possibility to think, make choices and form their own opinion. Educated children have learned to defend themselves and claim their rights. Education is the foundation to a better life.
Education moreover enhances sustainable development, the building of a democratic society and improves health conditions. The education of girls especially gives a high return in terms of improvement of health, family planning and the well-being of whole families. Moreover women that have attended schools make extra effort to ensure an education for their children as well.
The importance of basic education for all children is expressed in the combined mandate of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Child Labour Conventions 138 and 182 of the International Labour Organisations (ILO) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at the realisation of basic education for all children (boys and girls) by the year 2015. The international community thus agreed that education is a life skill and a basic right for all children.
girls need special attention?
Two thirds of all children that are not going to school are girls. The work that they perform is often hardly visible, e.g. in ones own or someone else’s household (domestic child labour). This work is denying these girl children their right to education.
The backward position of girl children is a consequence from the belief that girls do not need to be educated because they will become housewives anyway. In some communities girl children drop out of school early because of child marriages. Moreover girl children are often taken out of school because it is considered inappropriate and dangerous to walk long distances to school.
At the moment there is fortunately more attention for the arrears of girls in their participation at basic education. This should however be tied to an equal attention for the ‘hidden’ work of girls that is often the largest obstacle to their participation at full-time education.
How can child labour be eliminated?
The elimination of child labour is interlinked with the provision of full-time, formal and quality education provide free to all. Many children do not have a choice but to work because there is no (well-functioning) educational system available or because they are not stimulated to attend education. During the Industrial Revolution it was possible to eliminate child labour in Europe due to a combined mandate of prohibiting child labour and implementing compulsory education. This should also happen in developing countries.
However, the discussion on Education for All is often held without consideration of the fact that child labour is a huge obstacle for a large number of children to attend school. Building schools and improving the quality of education is therefore not enough. It is also essential to take a more active approach towards child labour (including child domestic labour) by developing specific strategies, to be able to mainstream all children under the age of fourteen into schools.
Governments are responsible for the educational system and they should take up this responsibility. It is not only important that quality education is offered to children already in school. It is important that programmes for basic education in developing countries include a strategy that is mainstreaming working and other non-school-going children below the age of fourteen into formal, full-time education.
Likewise it is essential to establish a norm that work must never be an impediment for children to attend basic daytime education. As long as the community is accepting that children work instead of going to school, child labour and low school participation will not be eradicated.
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