The announcement by Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir that his Ministry will be stepping up the fight against child labour is commendable because it is one of the major social evils of our society which is depriving thousands of children from a sound education and the pursuit of a normal life.
The Minister noted that child labour continues to be a major issue and reiterated that employers found guilty of employing children under the age of 15 will be prosecuted.
Explaining the difference between child labour and child work, Nadir pointed out that persons who are found to be preventing children from gaining an education during school hours will also be prosecuted since there is need for every child to developed fully and to have an opportunity to learn and enjoy a reasonable amount of leisure time.
“If you are going to take your children and deny them an opportunity for play and recreation and education, then you are engaging in child labour; we are going to be hyping up our anti-child labour programme even more in the next few months,” the Minister stated.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) points out that not all work done by children should be classified as child labour that is to be targeted for elimination. Children’s or adolescents’ participation in work that does not affect their health and personal development or interfere with their schooling is generally regarded as being something positive. This includes activities such as helping their parents around the home, assisting in a family business or earning pocket money outside school hours and during school holidays. These kinds of activities contribute to children’s development and to the welfare of their families; they provide them with skills and experience, and help to prepare them to be productive members of society during their adult life.
The term “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.
In Guyana, special attention needs to be paid to Amerindian children, particularly girls, many of whom are lured from their hinterland communities to the city and urban areas and are employed at bars, restaurants, as domestics etc by rapacious business people who use them to lure male customers and pay them starvation wages. In some cases they are even made into “sex slaves.” Many also become entrapped by these exploitative business persons as deduction from these Amerindian children’s starvation wages are made for boarding and lodging and so even those who want to break out cannot do so because when those deductions are made they are left without any money. Therefore, they have to continue working to survive and the cycle of exploitation goes on.
The solution to this problem is not an easy one because in many instances it is related to poverty, domestic problems such as broken homes, alcoholic or drug addicted parents etc.
The ILO estimates that 132 million children work in agriculture around the world – in many cases out of sheer economic necessity. In its most extreme forms, child labour involves children being enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities – often at a very early age. Whether or not particular forms of “work” can be called “child labour” depends on the child’s age, the type and hours of work performed, the conditions under which it is performed and the objectives pursued by individual countries. The answer varies from country to country, as well as among sectors within countries.
The ILO points out further that in its most extreme forms, child labour involves children being enslaved separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities – often at a very early age. Whether or not particular forms of “work” can be called “child labour” depends on the child’s age, the type and hours of work performed, the conditions under which it is performed and the objectives pursued by individual countries. The answer varies from country to country, as well as among sectors within countries.
So the problem of child labour is not restricted to few societies but clearly it is a global one and is a microcosm of the larger problems of society which is inherent in the unequal distribution of wealth which is a product of a global economic system whereby the rich is getting richer and the poor is getting power. Therefore, while individual societies will have to work to end this social scourge the macro-solution lies in arriving in a global economic system which guarantees equity and development with a human face.