Daily Times

Every year the world celebrates Child Labour Day on June 12 to create awareness about the issue, its abuses and the consequences of sending a child to work on the character of society. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) considers child labour as the worst form of human rights violation that not only snatches the right of a child to education, but also renders him/her subject to circumstances that are beyond his/her mental and physical capacities. According to ILO, some 215 million children worldwide work to support themselves and their families. UNESCO defines child labour as “work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential, and their dignity and that is harmful to physical and mental development.” An ILO-funded survey conducted by the Federal Bureau of Statistics of Pakistan reveals that some 3.8 million children of age 5-14 are involved in economic activities in Pakistan. These children are employed in all sorts of work: begging, car washing, domestic labour, workshops, brick kilns, agriculture, carpet manufacturing, etc. Though the agriculture sector employs the highest number of children, brick kilns are notorious for small children working as part of their families subjected to bonded labour. Contrary to the constitution, child labour is on the rise across the country. Article 11(3) of the constitution prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 in any factory, mine or other hazardous occupation. In addition, the constitution makes it mandatory on the state to protect the child, remove illiteracy, and provide free and fair compulsory education up to secondary level. The provisions of the Factories Act 1934 and the Employment of Children Rules 1995 consider employment of children an offence subject to a minimum six months imprisonment or a fine up to Rs. 20,000.

The aforementioned data reveals Pakistan has sufficient laws regarding children. However, lack of political will has kept successive governments from enforcing these laws in letter and spirit. There has never been any conscious effort by governments to impart ‘quality education’ to children, especially those of the poor. State-run schools are infamous for their indiscipline, corporal punishment, poor teaching, and gruesome atmosphere. This acts as a disincentive for poor parents to send their children to school. Persistent poverty on the other hand forces poor families to rely on children’s earnings to make ends meet. The onus for the continuance of child labour therefore falls squarely on the state. Now it is up to the government to rectify these wrongs by overhauling its education system and enforcing free and compulsory education up to secondary level in the country on a war footing, while strengthening our weak social safety nets for the poor. *