[hre-asiapacific] Article about Child Labor and HRE

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Article Source: The Times of India, Mumbai
Author: Roli Srivastava
Subject: Child Labour
Date Of Issue: 19/5/2003
Title: Child labourers given lessons, then sent back to work

A 12-year-old boy toils for hours in a brick kiln, sweating it out in the
heat. Like him, over one million children work in the state, many in
hazardous conditions, in sugarcane factories and power loom -industries
banned under the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act, 1986.

State officials aren't exactly cracking down on these units. Instead, they
are organising two-hour study programmes or seminars for these working
children, occasionally even teaching them about child rights.

The irony appears lost on the state government, but child rights'
organisations have started raising questions about the legitimacy of the
state's non-formal education programmes. While not denying the importance
of educating children, they contend that the state is over looking the
children's rescue and rehabilitation.

Activists say that in many cases, parents look upon the government
programmes as a way out of sending their children to school. Hemant Bhamre,
of Lok Vikas Samajik Sanstha in Nashik, points out that around 300 children
dropped out of the municipal school in Nashikto enroll in the non-formal
education classes. "Some parents think that their child can work while
studying in these classes. This in fact encourages child labour," he says.

Both the central and state governments have a handful of non-formal
education schemes for children out of school. The state government's
Mahatma Phule Yojana, the central government's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and
the labour ministry's Central Board for Workers Education offer non-formal
education options for working children.

The official line is that these "bridge" programmes help children join
mainstream schools later. Dr. Vasant Kalapande, director of primary
education with the state government's education department and project
director of Sarva Shiksh Abhiyan, says, "Of 15 lakh* children identified as
out of school, we could enroll 10 lakh in formal schools."

But, there are complaints that the classes are conducted by under-qualified
and underpaid teachers. The schemes also suffer because of poor
infrastructure. Many classes are even held in the workplace of the child.

On the other hand, the labour department-which is supposed to carry out
rescue operations for children working in hazardous conditions-conducts
two-day seminars for the children and their parents. Interestingly, the
seminars are about 'child rights'

The department justifies holding seminars for working children by hiding
behind technicalities. "The Child Labour Act uses the term 'regulation'
which means helping working children and parents about health, hygiene and
their rights," says a labour department official. The department's
responsibility ends with the seminars and NGOs are expected to follow up
from there, he adds.

But Alpa Vora, of Campaign Against Child Labour, says, "The solution lies
in giving employment to the parents so that these children can stop working
and study in formal schools."

*1 lakh is a South Asian unit of measurement equal to 100 000




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