GUYANESE should not take out of context the Labour Minister’s call for a revision of the legislation governing children of a certain age being allowed to work for a stipulated period of time during the day. The Minister has clearly set out the times for work to be conducted as after 17:00hrs and for no more than 3-4 hours with only light work to being done.   He has also specified that no work should be conducted with hazardous chemicals or in such an environment and no work will be allowed or condoned during school hours.
I feel these are reasonable provisions and more thought should be given to these stipulations by society as this is already being done in some instances in various communities around Guyana.
The International Labour Organisation has made provisions for children working under the same stipulations as the Minister has set out.
In defining Child Labour, the ILO states, “Not all work done by children should be classified as child labour that is to be targeted for elimination.”
The Organisation also states that 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 and sometimes contribute to children’s development and to the welfare of their families.  UNICEF also supports this line.
It also states that work provides children with skills and experience and help to prepare them to be productive members of society during their adult life.
So I think we, as Guyanese, should take care in bandying about the term “Child Labour” as it connotes all manner of negative implications and according to the ILO and other reputable organisations this is not always the case where very specific guidelines are in place.
Also, the hard-working officers of the Ministry of Labour have over the years, worked tirelessly to stamp out “Child Labour” in all its negative implications, and rightly so.