In commemoration of World Day Against Child Labour, celebrated on June 12 annually, the Ministry of Education hosted an inter-school Mural Paint Off competition yesterday at the Ministry’s Sports Complex, Carifesta Avenue. Five schools from Regions 3 (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara) and 4 (Demerara/Mahaica) were required to design a mural to represent the chosen local theme in keeping with specific criteria and guidelines.
The project is a production of the Government of Guyana, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), and Tackling Child Labour through Education (Tackle) Project Guyana, with support from the European Union.
Celebrated under the local theme ‘Child Labour Can Hurt- Lets Stay in School’, the day aims at promoting awareness and action to tackle child labour in accordance with the international theme, ‘Children in hazardous work – End child labour’.
In his address, Education Minister Shaik Baksh pointed to the importance of the event and pledged the government’s unwavering support towards curbing any incidents of child labour in Guyana.
He explained that even though occurrence of child labour is very low here, the Government of Guyana has been making every effort, through the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labour and Human Services, to ensure that this is completely eradicated.
As to the action taken in this regard, he said, “We have also signed on to the ILO conventions and we are observing those conventions…we also have laws in Guyana, especially pertaining to children in school up to age 15,” he explained.
He noted too that the laws and conventions that exist are necessary to curb instances of child labour, but they are not sufficient conditions for the solution to the problem.
“What is required really is prevention apart from enforcing the laws on employers and those who continue to breach the laws, prevention is important,” he declared.
Minister Baksh acknowledged that the Ministry of Labour has been very active in this area, as its officers have travelled across the country, as far as the hinterland communities, to spread awareness.
Baksh said that the Tackle Project, funded by the ILO, targets child labour through education, and as a result , a partnership was formed to ensure that the population would be educated about the harm and dangers of the practice, with the overall aim of eradication.
“One important way as a prevention method is to ensure that all children are enrolled in schools; by doing this we avoid the pitfalls and the dangers,” Baksh stressed.
The Ministry has been very proactive in this area, to the extent that it has enrolled nearly 100 percent of children in schools, meeting the Millennium Development Goals, he said. 
However, the minister explained that the challenge being faced is not enrollment, but keeping children in schools, long enough to complete the primary and secondary level education.
In order to deal with this situation, Baksh revealed that there are a large number of interventions designed to reduce drop out rates in schools.
Several of these include adjustments to the schools curriculum and delivery system to stimulate children’s interest, continuous remediation programmes, and the creation of child-friendly environments.
Addressing the effectiveness of such interventions, Minister Baksh stated, “A UNICEF study has shown that we have made significant progress through the programmes so that children will want to go into schools.”
He encouraged all in attendance, especially the children, to take advantage of all the programmes designed to stimulate their interest in education, including the academic and vocational, and stressed too that teachers also play a major role in the fight against child labour.
“We have to empower the children in our school system,” he advocated
Meanwhile, the National Project Officer for the GOG/ILO/IPED/EU Tackle Project, Ms.Sharon Patterson, gave a brief overview of the activity being observed.
She noted that ILO’s most recent global estimate shows that 215 million children are involved in child labour, which is likely to harm children’s health, safety, or morals.
“”Two hundred and fifteen million children are involved in child labour, 115 million  are involved in hazardous work, of which 74 million are boys and 41 million are girls,” she revealed.
Added to this, Patterson said that hazardous work is among the worst forms of child labour, which the international community has targeted for elimination by 2016.
Alluding to the implications of this, she stated, “Children working in many different industries and occupations can be exposed to such risks, and the problem is global, affecting industrialised as well as developing countries.”
She proudly announced that in Guyana, laws exist and are enforced which ensure that children remain in school, an important step in curbing child labour .
In its Global Report on child labour, the ILO said that the global number of child labourers had declined from 222 million to 215 million, or 3 percent, over the period 2004 to 2008, a very slow decline.
The ILO  launched the first World Day Against Child Labour in 2002, as a way to highlight the plight of girls and boys throughout the world  who are engaged in work that deprives them of adequate education, health, leisure and basic freedoms, violating their rights.
The day, to be observed tomorrow, is intended to serve as a catalyst for the growing worldwide movement against child labour, reflected in the huge number of ratifications of ILO Convention No. 182 on the worst forms of child labour, and ILO Convention No. 138, on the minimum age for employment.