Daily Times

Toiling hard at an auto workshop in the bustling town of Nowshera, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, youngster Adil Khan was encircled by scattered spare parts and tools, fixing engines and CNG kits to earn some money for supporting his family.

With his small hands looking blackish and greasy and eyes navigating complex machinery of vehicles at his Pabbi town auto market, Adil entered into this grueling profession in 2020, driven by poverty that forced him to abandon his education at Amankot primary school.

“Year 2000 was very painful for my family when my mother had to borrow heavy amount of money for treatment of my father’s pancreatic cancer,” he recalled, telling a painful story. “Father’s protracted ailment and mother’s discomfort compelled me to work at auto market and help my family.”

With distress in his eyes, he continued, “poverty had deprived me of education as well as my childhood. “Now, am here working till late hours and my ambition for education has drowned deep somewhere in my heart.”

Adil’s story is the one among millions daily witnessed in our surroundings with kids of hundreds of thousands families compelled to early age labor due to families financial compulsions. Although respective governments launched number of projects in education, legal and social sector to ameliorate the lot of people and ensuring that school run-away or dropout students are enrolled afresh and curb child labor, yet the desired results are still awaited.

Jehanzeb Khan, Manager, Society for Protection of the Rights of Child (SPARC) KP states that a large number of children in Pakistan are currently engaged in child labor due to poverty and socio-economic imbalances. “Pakistan Labor Force survey reveals a worrisome number of children aged 10-17 who are engaged in various forms of labor countrywide.”

A recent Child Labor Survey conducted by Labor Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported that approximately 1.5 million children in the province were working as child laborers, with thousands below 10 years age found working at shops and auto markets. “Poverty and illiteracy are primary drivers behind this pressing issue,” said Dr. Muhammad Naeem Khattak, an educationist. “As poverty rate rises, it directly impacts the social sector also resulting in increased underage labor. Therefore, this financial instability forces families to prioritize immediate economic needs over their children’s education and health.

“Literacy rate in Pakistan is around 62.8%, with almost half of the population lacking access to quality education,” Naeem said. “This lack of opportunity forces youngsters to opt for an early age labor, particularly in impoverished areas. Therefore, we need comprehensive policies to protect children’s rights and ensure quality and affordable education for them.”

As the country faces numerous socio-economic problems, efforts to combat child labor usually seem like insufficient. Since, the country’s debt burden, low economic growth and pressure on foreign exchange reserves continue to haunt every government, their first priority remains to better economic conditions.

Therefore, number of issue of key importance slip down on the priority list due to shabby economic conditions and unnecessary tug of war among political parties that badly affect our socio-economic sectors. Many public sector organizations and NGOs working in this area face financial constraints and dwindling enthusiasm that hampering their ability to make a meaningful impact.

Though the government has recognized education as a fundamental right under Article 25-A of the Constitution, its implementation in far flung areas remains weak. The civil society activists have urged the KP government to increase minimum employment age from 14 to 16 years, allowing more children to acquire education.

Meanwhile, Fazal Shakoor Khan, Provincial Minister for Labour KPK has mentioned to different steps taken to combat child labor including Rs177.5 million allocations for education of child laborers and planned appointment of wage magistrates to enforce minimum wage regulations.

“Education Emergency Program has been launched in nine remote districts to provide stipends and support to families to encourage school enrollment under KP Govt’s Rs 3.1 billion education emergency program,” he stated.

The Minister informed that each child in these districts would receive a monthly stipend of Rs1,000 besides an option to enroll their children in registered private schools at the government expenses.

“Initially 40,000, mostly the street children from nine districts would benefit from this initiative,” he said. “Approximately 50 million free textbooks would be provided to children on enrollment from grades 1 to 12 and 506 talented students would be granted ETEA scholarships.”

The minister also mentioned to adopting multi-faceted policies also involving the government and private organizations for meaningful action and transparent utilization of financial resources for breaking child labor cycle.