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Why this? Why are these children forced to labor?
It is because most of the parents have this notion that their children will not get any work to do even if they are literate. It will be worse when they while away their time and come in the path of each and every second person. So why not train them right from the beginning to earn and help their parents monetarily. Above all, if they go to school they will drop out and create more problems.
Child Labor social issue
Child Labor is a social issue within Pakistan and is considered a violation of human - rights by the United Nations. Pakistani society s such that a poor child can quite conveniently be deprived of basic education, only to feed the rest of his family members. Anyone up to the age of 18 is a child and his basic right is to receive education and proper upbringing rather than use his hands to destroy his own bright future. Children are especially exploited in the third world countries as they are a cheap source of labor and in Pakistan children are used as laborers in the Sports industry. Carpet industry and the Footwear and in glassware production. According to the Federal Bureau of Statistics of Pakistan, 3.3 million out of 40
million children are working in various industries, although child labor is strictly prohibited by law. Child Labour is a serious social problem within Pakistan because the .re and progress of any country depends on educated and enlightened youth and if a child is not properly socialized then he/she will not be able to grow as confident and literature Pakistani citizens. There are various reasons for exploitation of children within the economic sector of Pakistan and such causes are directly related to the major social problems of Pakistan.
Factors that generate child labour
The factors that generate child labour within Pakistan are parental poverty and illiteracy; an irresponsible political system; social and economic pressures; lack of education. Social attitudes in Pakistan due to which a child is considered an adult at quiet an early stage due to biological changes, also are a cause of exploitation of children below 18 years. Poverty is a major social issue within Pakistan and as a result children are made to work in various industries in order to support their financially poor parents. The status of the family directly influences the choices available to a child and obviously if a family is extremely poor with comparatively less resources then consequently each member but it a child or an adult will be required to work and bring in money in order to survive. The economic and family status in the rural areas of Pakistan is quite low and as a result children are forced to work in various manufacturing and tertiary industries and are also over-exploited 61.2% of Pakistanies are illiterate and poor education resulting in limited exposure to human rights is a major cause of child labour. Education is a sociological variable and is of extreme importance because it emancipates a person from the grip of ignorance. However, most people in the rural areas have no access to educational institutions and thus a child learns the tricks of trade from his father and instead of gaining education he chooses to work as a labourer oris at times forced by parents’ due to their own lack of basic knowledge. Pakistan does not have sound educational system under which a child can be adequately socialized into becoming a productive member of society. Education is not treated as a priority and inevitably child exploitation continues within our nation. Girls and boys are forced to work as domestic servants in the homes of the upper middle class or the richer elite. Thus class divisions become more prominent with the exploitation of the poor by the rich and this leads to an inequitable distribution of wealth and income. Pakistan is going through a serious social stratification problem and the rich countries to get richer whereas the poor continues to get poorer. Girls are exploited within the rich households, are paid less and are often physically harassed by the male owners. This leads to further sex and gender related issues and thus child labour needs to be strongly curtailed. Pakistan needs a strong government and political structure to address the issue of child labour. However, President Musharraf’s government is a military dictatorship which considers a nuclear program a priority but banning child labour is not a serious issue for them. There are loopholes in the political structure of Pakistan and a weak government is a main cause of the denial of rights of the citizens of a country. Therefore children’s rights are largely ignored and deliberately avoided. For a positive change a democracy is needed which will fight against child labour through reformative action and laws and regulations. In Pakistan 7% of children working suffer from health problems and are physically abused as well by their owners. These are all structural problems within the social agencies of Pakistan which only accelerate the rate of child labour but also set a precedent for other developing nations to follow.
Global trend
Global trend is to wean away children from labour and impart compulsory education to them. Till recently law prohibits child labour in factories but not in cottage industry, family households, eating places or in agriculture. Doesn’t it sound foolish? Poverty invariably comes in the way of education and that too only in Pakistan. In other countries, even poorer than Pakistan, poverty is not allowed to stand in the way of expanding mass education or making primary education compulsory. It proves that our priorities lie somewhere else.
Why can’t Pakistan adopt the policy of compulsory primary education and go in for legislation to abolish child labour in toto?
It is puzzling. We have not followed the provisions of our cherished Constitution religiously which call for compulsory education and ban on child labour. We have framed rules but they are never executed sincerely and they exist merely as official statutes. Moreover, we are victims of ill-placed priorities. Pakistan spends 2.1% of its GNP on education that is primary one and more on higher education knowing very well that only one or one and a half percent of young men and women attend institutions of higher learning.
Reasons of Child Labor
Child labour is on the increase. Let us explore the reasons of this malady. Our mind- set has not undergone a radical change. Caste system still lives in our psyche. We still feel education for the poor would disrupt the existing social arrangements. We bill believe that those who use brain rule and those who work with hands are to be ruled. This division should not be disturbed at any cost otherwise there will be upheavals in society and the very superstructure of society will crumble down. All will become masters. No social equality is desired. Those who control educational system perhaps do not wart the poor children to study and use their brain. When they drop out, figure is circulated but nobody bothers and nothing is done to check this avoidable exodus. Big guns and politically powerful indulge in rhetoric and by using high-sounding words shed crocodile’s tears but do nothing to stem this trend and let it go more acute knowingly or unknowingly.
Labour Ministry
The Labour Ministry itself admits that child labour is a kind of financial advantage to employers and an economic compulsion to parents. So it is thought to improve the working conditions of children rather than to remove them from workforce. Government officials advocate: (a) improvement in working conditions (b) ban on employment of children in hazardous occupations (c) regulation of the working hours (d) assurance of proper wages (e) introduction of supplementary education to children rather than formal education (f) incentives for education in the shape of free textbooks, free uniforms, free meals and what not. In this way they do not want any compulsion in education. They are ready to impart informal education to children but not formal education.
Chronic poverty
Chronic poverty also compels parents to seek employment for their children. Their meagre income is not enough to make both ends meet, so they want extra bucks arid for that their children come handy. They think schooling will be useless and it is better to take some employment and start earning without education. Moreover, schooling means wastage of 5 to 10 years and that too when there is no guarantee of employment after the schooling.
School education imparts formal education only and it does not prepare children for any occupation. So why to go for formal education?
Potential employers remain hunting for soft targets. They find children more pliable and still further children do not expect high wages and it means more savings for the employers. Children have supple fingers more suitable for work in many crafts. Owners of the cottage industry can’t afford to give huge pay packets to the workers, so they employ young children to ensure the very survival of their industry.
Child labour is an unfortunate and ugly manifestation of economic compulsion. Sociocultural perceptions also give impetus to it. Elites think in a strange manner and argue that if poor children get education it would lead to an increase in unemployment and harm social and political order. Our policy-makers do not think that mass education is altogether essential for modernization. They like to pump more money into elite institutions to produce western type educated classes. If more money is spent on the education of the poor elite group will suffer. Even our so-called broad-minded people do not want the poor to come up and be at par with them socially and economically.
Money-lenders
Money-lenders also play a leading role to encourage child labour. They give loans only after keeping a member of the family as collateral. It is a kind of bonded labour. Mostly children become collaterals as their upkeep does not put any extra financial burden on the money-lenders. This goes on for generations together and there is no end to it. In this way child labour in the shape of bonded labour flourishes.
Six decades are going to end
Though six decades are going to end but nothing substantial has been done to end child labour. Universal primary education has remained an utopian scheme in carpet sizable the government itself accepts child labor as a harsh reality and thinks it is inevitable.
At units children are exposed to gruesome conditions with no safety measures. The unhygienic conditions upon them and they succumb to various diseases ultimately die prematurely. The government sound note of hope asserts that it has not given up the long term goals of ending child labor and implementing compulsory primary education. Earlier they could not introduce measures because of unfavorable social and economic conditions. Politicians get huge donation from the factory owners and they dare not go against the wishes of the donors and harm their interests by introducing measures which would eliminate child labor once for all.
Socio economic programs
Child labour can’t be eliminated in toto unless we have the will power to do so. Comprehensive socio-economic programs and educational uplift of the poor downtrodden and the deprived can work wonders. Side by side a radical change in the mind-set of the society towards child labour is the need of the hour. Government policies alone can’t solve this problem. Even harsh laws can’t toll the death knell of child labour. People in general can do this but we should not expect the result of our endeavors at one go and we should be ready for a gradual elimination of the problem. We have the requisite medicines to cure the chronic disease of child labor but it may take a longer period to give a final kick to the disease. Let us hope for the best. Tiny hands will not go wrinkled any more.
Government Programs
As usual the government has announced program to ameliorate the plight of the children who have been working. Eye-catching advertisements have been inserted in the dailies. Will the schemes announced remain schemes on paper only?
Long back the government tried to bring about prohibition in the state but later on the government had to retreat its steps. Government measures only can’t solve any problems. Child labour can’t be wished away with mere legislation without a well thought, workable and field-tested rehabilitation plan. In the absence of a proper enforcement and rehabilitation program the ban on child labour will be a bane for child labourers and the society as a whole because once these children are freed from their jobs they will take to other unlawful activities to survive or to look after their family member, as most of them are the sole breadwinners. Even central and state governments and NGOs are not aware how many people will be rendered jobless and what will be the implications and ramifications of such a blanket ban. Talking of a workable rehabilitation plan for child labour in a country of our size, population and a system infected by corruption is ridiculous. The concept of social security is still to catch up in Pakistan.
The job is very tough and the hurdles are unsurmountable but that should not render us lethargic and helpless. First of all there must be an agency to see that each and every child goes to school and this agency should be given all possible help to do its job. Every possible help should be given to the children to continue their studies and there should be no dropouts. If we are sincere in our efforts schooling will leave no child free to wander and work. Moreover, every parent of each child must be assured a job to survive. Above all, those who still employ children to save some bucks, because if they are to employ the adults they have to pay them more, should be heavily penalized and exemplary punishment should be given to them. Laws made and implemented half heartedly will not yield any result. Our intentions are good but our actions should equally be good. Will-power can give a death blow to any malady.
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