Child Labour and Education

Child labour, the worst form of violation of human rights, has persisted in India. The 1991 census estimated that there are 11.2 millions workers in India below the age of 14 years. These children live in economic and social environment that impede their physical and mental development and are, indeed, quite detrimental to the overall development of the economy.

The phenomenon of child labour is attributed primarily to poverty and the lack of schooling facilities. Children are sent to work at cost of their education mostly to supplement the inadequate family income in poor households. This prevents them from acquiring the skills necessary to grab higher jobs. They thus fall under the claws of poverty once again. Moreover, in the case of "Missing children", as they are generally called, a large proportion of children neither go to school nor are they employed. The mothers of these children go out for work while they look after their siblings and other households chores. Secondly, it is often argued that a major reason for parents not sending their children to school is that they find the quality of schooling poor. It is also suggested that the present earnings of the child from work are more profitable than the possibility of future earnings after getting education.

The first legal provision against the social evil of child labour was the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regualtion) Act, 1986 that sought to impose a ban on the employment of children below the age of 14 years in Factories, Mines and hazardous occupations, and to regulate the working conditions of children in other occupations. Thereafter, several initiatives were taken by successive governments to eliminate child labour. The national policy on Child Labour 1987, the national charter for children, 2003 drawn up by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, to name a few, were not successful. Child Labour still persists and unlike other developing countries, India has a very high number of child labourers.

A total ban on child labour is largely inappropriate since unemployed parents or those in lower segments of the labour market, mainly the informal sector, cannot afford to keep their children from remunerative employment. Children would be simply shifted to more hazardous sectors where labour laws can be easily flouted, thus adding to their woes.

The provision of free and compulsory primary education is often suggested as a remedy to combat child labour. But the inherent problem that is over looked is that in a country with a vast population near or below the power line, where child labour arises primarily due to economic compulsions, improvements in schooling facilities are not going to have any effect on child labour. Only when parents are economically capable of sending their children to schools does the availability and quality of schools matters. Material incentives like mid day meals, the provision of books, uniforms etc , can be helpful in drawing children out of work to schools only if the economic value of these incentives is more than the wages obtained by the children in employment. In India, these schemes have proved to be ineffective largely because of the substandard quality of food provided.

Since the reasons for the emergence of child labour are strongly interrelated, a multi-pronged strategy coupled with massive mobilization of resources is required. The majority of the child labourers are from families where parents are employed in unorganized sector. This sector is characterized by low wages, the ineffectiveness of labour legislation and the absence of social security of workers. A number of initiatives have been taken on the part of government, the Unorganized Sector Workers Bill, 2004, being the latest one. Much more, however, remains to be done for the uplift of informal sector workers, like the provision of free or heavily subsidized basic needs like health nutrition, housing and education, the formulation of a comprehensive policy to augment their production skills and the arrangement of pension schemes. The economic betterment of these workers can be expected to effectively reduce the supply of child labour.

The parental attitude must be changed through awareness programmes and dissemination of information on the crucial role of education. If the parents are educated they are likely to abstain from sending their children into the job market and to make efforts to impart education to them. Thus, while incentives to draw children to primary schools would have a direct effect on child labour, an emphasis on adult education can also influence parents not to make their children work for wages.

It is undeniable that the situation cannot be changed overnight. Education has barely any significance for a hungry child. The provision of non-formal education may enable children belonging to the lowest rungs of the society to continue education while working. Children could be allowed to work part time. In any case, they must not work in hazardous industries. Their work must be strictly monitored by the government.

Child labour, poverty and education are not mutually exclusive, but they have a casual relationship. A "working child" who does not go to school has few productive skills, his potential for earning higher wages are bleak, he is likely to suffer from financial constraints and could later probably sent his own child again to work. Thus efforts to curb child labour, to eliminate poverty, and achieve universal education should proceed with equal zeal.

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