MINISTER of Education, Mr. Shaik Baksh has announced that the Ministry has drafted legislation in an effort to reduce the number of children who drop out of the school system.
The legislating will be aimed at increasing the age of children leaving school from age 15 to 16 years, he explained.
Baksh made the announcement last Friday while addressing the gathering at the Inter-School Mural Paint Off Competition staged in recognition of World Day Against Child Labour 2011.
The event was themed ‘Child Labour Can Hurt- Let’s Stay in School’ and he maintained that one of the sure ways of eradicating the scourge is through education.
“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 dangers,” he stated.
As to progress with the new law, Baksh pointed out that, that although it was submitted to the Attorney General’s Chambers a year ago, there have been delays due to logistical problems.
He said, despite the necessity for the various laws, legislation is not a sufficient solution to child labour and more emphasis needs to be placed on education
“Having laws and legislation is necessary but it is important for the population to be educated about the dangers of child labour, if they are to support the implementation of steps to eliminate it,” Baksh posited.
He said, though Government recognises that child labour is driven by poverty in most cases, the focus continues to be on the promotion of education across the country as a preventative measure.
Baksh said there is a large number of educational programmes and interventions, which have been designed to reduce dropout rates in schools.
These include the Uniform Assistance Programme, the School Feeding Programme and the provision of free text and exercise books, which are initiatives that are already having a tremendous impact.
“These efforts highlight Government’s commitment to fighting the scourge of non-attendance at school,” he reiterated.
Baksh challenged the gathering at the forum, especially the children, to take advantage of all of the programmes designed to stimulate their interest in both academic and vocational education.