Child labour and education

 

Child labour and education

 

Child labour is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. According to the most recent estimates, there are 160 million children in child labour worldwide, an increase of 8.4 million children in the last four years. At the start of 2020, 63 million girls and 97 million boys were in child labour children worldwide, accounting for nearly 1 in 10 of all children worldwide.

Child labour can result in extreme bodily and mental harm, and even death. It can lead to slavery and sexual or economic exploitation. And in nearly every case, it cuts children off from schooling and health care, restricting their fundamental rights and threatening their futures.

It deprives children of their right to go to school and reinforces intergenerational cycles of poverty. Child labour acts as a major barrier to education, affecting both attendance and performance in school.   

 

 

Education is a key element in the prevention of child labour; at the same time, child labour is one of the main obstacles to Education for All (EFA). Education is a crucial component of any effective effort to eliminate child labour. There are many interlinked explanations for child labour. No single factor can fully explain its persistence and, in some cases, growth. The way in which different causes, at different levels, interact with each other ultimately determines whether or not an individual child becomes a child laborer.

 

The basic reason for child labour is poverty, illiteracy, and unemployment. People who are illiterate do not send their children to school. Instead of sending them schools, they force them to earn money. Thus, small children cannot get the education, as a result, they lack behind in their life.

 

Early schooling is the most effective way of getting children out of the labour market and giving them the opportunity to acquire the necessary skills for finding decent work in the future. Education and training are indispensable drivers of social and economic development, and democracy. They require public funding and accountability. In many countries, the schools accessible to disadvantaged families remain underfunded, poorly equipped and lack sufficient qualified staff. Education enlightens deprived children and child labourers. Education makes them aware of their fundamental rights. Education plays a vital role in the personality development of a child. It leads the children's future towards self-sufficiency and financial stability.

 

 

Important programmes launched by the Indian Government were:

 

Ø  Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat

 

Ø  Beti Bachao Beti Padhao

 

Ø  Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya

 

Ø  Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha

 

Ø  Unnati

 

 

 

 

“Children are meant to learn, not to earn. Don’t send them to make tools, instead send them to school. Child labor is devastation, they should concentrate on education.”