Child labour and Early childhood - Primary education

Question: Discuss about child labour and early childhood / primary education? Answer: Child labour has become a severe problem for the society as the numbers have been increasing at an alarming rate. According to Munene and Ruto (2010), 211 million child workers can be found throughout the world who are within 14 years old. The child labour of age group 15-17 years can reach 141 million in future. The main challenge of child labour is associated with the Sub-Saharan African countries where the percentage of a child as a worker is 29 (Ikwuyatum 2010). However the developed countries are facing this problem at a smaller scale. In this context, the definition of the term child labour may be understood as the deprivation of childhood as well as loss of a child's right both physically and mentally. The condition of under aged working children in different sectors in the different countries may not be the same for every country. The labours attended the age of 18 years may be used in the hazardous industry. It becomes abolition of the children when they are used in those ha zardous works (World report on child labour 2013). Primary education is one of the significant rights of the children in their early childhood. United Nations Convention has modelled the program like Education for all. The program eyed to provide financial support in the underdeveloped countries. The program has the aim to educate people up to primary level. Thereby, the system of compulsory education to all children in the underdeveloped countries may provide children primary schooling. This has been considered as a remedy for reducing child labour in countries like Nigeria, where 40% of the workers are children (Ikwuyatum 2010). The argument has a proven record of accomplishment from the history of the industrial country in the 19th century (Holloway and Pimlott-Wilson 2011). Every country across the globe believes that implementation of compulsory education for children can abolish child labour. The availability of child labour can be reduced by engaging the children in the schoo ls during the school-hour. . However, some of the socialists have doubted the impact and effectiveness of compulsory primary education for the children in reducing the child workers (Haile and Haile 2012). They think that poverty and economic condition of the household influence to a greater extent. The appalling working conditions of children gave rise to many criticisms. Herath and Sharma (2007) opined that child labour deprived the children of their childhood. He extended his argument towards the economic and health-related exploitation for the child workers. The side-effects of using the child labours at working place reduce the overall rate of wages for the workers. It is also the reason of low wage rate and production cost in many countries throughout the globe. A child labour may work in the different sectors such as agriculture, household, construction and manufacturing. Society believes that working makes individuals responsible for themselves and their family. Therefore, the social scientists had divided the list of child labours into two categories - good and bad activities (Tetteh 2011). Children learn valuable skills at the workplace, which they can apply in their lives in future. It is a kind of education to them. The working children must gather practical educatio n from their workplaces. It worked as a catalyst to grow their mental strength as well as the economic condition (World report on child labour 2013). Feelings of the children may vary with respect to their work. The factor of working age or workable age for children varies from nation to nation. International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention had mentioned 15 years as the standard for the minimum age for the children to work (Morrow and Vennam 2010). However, they may start at age 14 as an apprentice. The developed, as well as the developing countries, are following the same rule. However, the convention made age 13 (12 for developing countries) as the initial working age of light works. All the countries must maintain age 18 as the initial age for the labours to work in the hazardous industry (Morrow and Vennam 2010). The issue in child worker is not only their age, but also the types of activities they do in the industry. It has been observed that children are used in industries like construction, manufacturing, agricultural, fishing and domestic services where a broad range of activities are associated with these fields of workings. In the developing countries like India and Thailand the culture of the society, is to use the child labour in a variety of works. Munene and Ruto(2010) found that child labours are used in many of the informal sectors as their the restriction is lesser than that of the formal sector. The informal activities make the working of the children unofficial in front of the world and the authority. The informal industry has made the children work without any legal wages. Moreover, they are paid below the minimum line of wages. The jobs are unsecured and have no security in the form of health Bill, in the instance of an injury. However, a different scenario can be seen in the case of the formal sector, where using of child labour is restricted by the laws and regulations made by the government. Tetteh (2011) saw that trade unions were also a constraint in authorising the adult labours in the workplace. The skill also became a factor for the children to work in the formal sectors like heavy industry whereas the skilled labours were necessary for effective usage of the tools applicable to the sites. Finally, she also discovered that poor physical strength of the children also restricted them to work in the formal industry. The causes and the effect of using child labour in different sectors can be found in the past reviews made by various researchers. Holloway and Pimlott-Wilson (2011) found that many of the parents did not send their children to school to avoid the expenses on education. Therefore, he mentioned that the government had to provide the primary level of education free of cost. This scheme might encourage the parents to send their children to school. The policy of the government was solely responsible for the rural and the economically poor region for sending the children to the schools. The researchers had found that attendance at the primary level classes in many countries was high by virtue of the free classes and the support that the poor received (Kevin 2005). The support for food and basic educational materials can be provided free of cost with education at the primary level by the nation. The policy has become very popular in developing countries like India. This has enabled in the mitigation and eradication of numerous social evils as found by the researchers (Kondylis and Manacorda 2012). The society has witnessed of increasing numbers of studies to understand the value created by free education up to primary level. The support provided to the poor families to educate their children had created the values in society. It has reduced social problems like child labour to a great extent (Ray 2002). There are numerable informal services sectors present which are using children as their primary workforce. The results may be against the official laws as well as the nourishment of the childhood. The many researchers have observed the widespread use of the children in domestic service in the Asian countries. Ahmmed, Sharma and Deppeler(2012) have found that girls are widely used in the domestic services like house cleaning, cooking, washing and taking care of the sick. These child labours are working without any social or employment protection in the domestic services. They are also vulnerable to any exploitation or abusive behaviour from their employers. Shoe-polishing and gathering saleable objects from the garbage are some activities in the informal sector where child labours is used (Brasted and Wright 1996). More examples can be observed from developing countries as the instances are increasing in spite of economic growth in the countries. In Northeast Brazil, the children serv ed as water carriers to homes. The age of these, children are within 10-14 years (Bromley and Mackie 2009). The older children typically start working by selling flowers and objects (cigarettes, candy, newspapers and household goods) on the streets. The children may be self-employed or may serve their relatives at their workplaces (Thabet et al., 2010). However, the scenario is worse for the girls as they work as prostitutes, drug peddlers and beggars in many places. The children become earning member after age 12 in the family in the North-eastern region of the country. It is the customs and culture to contribute economically after a child attend the age 9 (World report on child labour 2013). The quality of the basic education may bring harmony in the society to reduce the differences and inequalities in the society. The policy is the yield of the movement of World Conference on Education in 1990. The main objective of this movement was to reduce the illiteracy level. However, Le et al. (2013) found that this movement has been effectively used for reducing the child labour, child trafficking and exploitation related to the children in the society. The program Education for all had the various challenges. The challenges were not limited to make the society illiterate-free. The empirical studies of many researchers have supported this movement as it has been used to decrease the rate of child labour per year in many countries. We may understand the scenario of education and child labour in African region from the following example. Nigeria accounts for 6 million child labour in the country (Ikwuyatum 2010). The girls dropped out from school or never attended the place of education are working in different sectors. The age of those girls are below 15 (Ikwuyatum 2010). The reason is poverty and the social inequality. Therefore, since early childhood these girls are engaged in contributing to the family and its income regularly. Teichert (2015) observed that child hood of the girls were deprived due to earning for their families. They faced the challenges like malnutrition and infertility in future. The country has witnessed that more than 8 million children work in order to raise funds for their schooling expenses (Ikwuyatum 2010). The cases of school dropout was higher than that of starting the program Education for all in the country. The enrolment rate in the primary classes was relatively low while 43.5% of the primary students enrolled to commit in the higher classes (Ikwuyatum 2010). The progress was observed in this context after implementing UPE in the country. Others scheme in this regard were UBE and EFA. The UBE was enacted from 1999 in the country in which first nine years of the schooling was free. The mass school enrolment was observed after introducing free lunch in the schools for the pupil. The students enrolled in the classes were provided with free basic educational materials and the textbooks. It helped the programme to secure the importance in the society as well as encourage the parents of the children to enrol their child in the schools. The similar condition had been witnessed in Ethiopia where the school enrolment rate was one of the lowest in the world (Ikwuyatum 2010). The recent survey had expressed the concern regarding the school attendance in Ethiopia by the children. The attendance rate in the schools was only 38% of the entire population. According to the survey it was observed that 40% of the age between the years 13 and 17 had never gone to school (Ikwuyatum 2010). The possible solution to reduce the child workers in the society was found to implement the primary education compulsory for the under aged children. It also provided the society relief from many concerns such as violation of human rights on the female and children as well. Laborda Castillo, Sotelsek Salem and Sarr (2014) found that school dropouts among the female were high due to poverty in the family. He argued for different ways to generate income so that poverty can be reduced in the entire society. Girls in the society may become strong part of the system while introducing to education to them. They may become strong economically as well as physically by having basic education. In this way, they might gain confidence for their livelihood. It reduces the social problems such as girls trafficking and physical violation against them. The education and school attendance of the female in the society have improved the situation in the rural areas. In addition to this, the issue relat ed to child labour can be controlled in this manner. Dal Santo, Bowling and Harris (2010) found that the girls were heavily engaged in the household labours. The informal segment of child labour was the main resource of child molestation and sexual violation against the young women. However, providing food and study materials free of cost by the nation may become a solution to this problem. The countries like Nigeria and India have enjoyed success of implementing the policy in reducing the child labour through its mission of educating all in the society. In the peak agricultural season, the attendance of student might be low in the schools of rural area. Children of both genders used in agriculture as the helping hand to reduce the expenses of agriculture. There has been a shift in the focus due to the increase in the occurrences of sexual abuse and exploitation faced by such children across the globe. The anti-social elements of the society such as the mafia in the developed and developing countries are using young children for sexual gratification. Abuya, Oketch and Musyoka (2013) observed that street children were overtly used in such occupation by coercion used by such anti-social elements who have the support of the local authority. He expressed the situation as the loss of childhood and development of disordered psychology for the next generation. The topic of child labour could be controversial in the context of different countries. The discussion from the different researchers has made it clear that the situation is almost same for any country despite having different cultural background. Children has become an instrument to reduce the expenses of the activities in various fields. The circumstances can be found vigorously in the developing countries where the labour payment has become an issue for the investors. However, the informal sector is the main employer of the child workforce. The numbers are unknown. Moreover the cases of molestation, abusive torture and sexual exploitation are high. The social scientists have argued for applying low level of child-labours in the formal sectors. They have found that many authorities scanned the system to prevent the management to use children as labour. The unions also play a great level of authority in reducing the child labour in the formal industry. Primary education may nourish the childhood of children. It can protect them from external harmony as well. 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