Child-Labour

Child is meant to learn not to earn…..Stop child labour.

Child Labour is a global issue that prevents children from fulfilling their potential. ‘Child Labour’ is work performed by a child that is likely to interfere with his or her right to education, or to be harmful to their health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. All work done by children under the age of 15 and dangerous work done by children under the age of 18 is illegal. Child labour id prohibited under international treaties and agreements.

Coronavirus worsens India’s child-labour issue : The coronavirus pandemic is forcing India’s children out of school and into farms and factories to work, worsening a child-labour problem that was already one of the most dire in the world.

According to Covid-19 and child labour: A time of crisis, a time to act, child labour decreased by 94 million since 2000, but that gain is now at risk. Global estimates in 2017 showed that 152 million children were in child labour worldwide. Some studies show that a one percentage point rise in poverty leads to at least a 0.7 percent increase in child labour in certain countries. A 2018 study by DHL International GmBH estimated that more than 56 million children were out of school in India – more than double combined number across Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The cost to India’s economy, in terms of lost productivity was projected at $6.79 billion, or 0.3% of gross domestic product. Of those children not in school, 10.1 million are working, either as a main worker or as a marginal worker, according to the International Labour Organisation.

Global Trend : Global child labour had been gradually declining in the past two decades, but the covid-19 pandemic threatens to reverse that trend, according to the ILO. As many as 60 million people are expected to fall into poverty this year alone, and that inevitably drives families to send children out to work. A joint report by ILO and United Nations children’s Fund estimates that a 1 percentage point rise in poverty leads to at least a 0.7 percentage point increase in child labour.

In these above picture the boy named Rahul, 11 years old, collecting plastic to sell to a recycler in southern India. His teachers said he has a high I.Q. and was doing well in school until it closed in March. Many parents say they are under tremendous pressure to put their idle children to work. Parents are not allowing children to attend online classes because for only one reason online classes are not affordable to poor families. Online education requires two things, a gadget(smartphone, tablet or computer), a internet connection. Both of these requires money and access to such resources. Since gadgets and internet connection can only be accessed by those who can afford them.

These children, from 6 to 14 years old have been sent by their parents to rummage through garbage dumps littered with broken glass and concrete shards in search of recyclable plastic. They earn a few cents per hour and most wear no gloves or masks. Many cannot afford shoes and make their rounds barefoot, with bleeding feet.

Every child has a right to be protected from work that is harmful and exploitive. A poor child’s fundamental right to education thus stands violated.

“Small hands can handle the pen better don’t force child to work”.

“For a better Nation, stop child Exploitation” .

“Big buildings with small hands, child labour should be banned”.

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Child labour is an issue in our modern day world that not only harshly ravages the lives of million of innocent children, but also affects all of us through its effects on the economy, family, and trade along with its connections to poor education and poverty.