THE Census of India reports show that the number of child labourers in the country increased from 11.3 million in 1991 to 12.6 million in 2001. They further state that an estimated 87 million children are not attending school.
Due to several reasons "including poverty, child trafficking, child migration and even child marriages " many of these children are often left on the streets to fend for themselves. "Today, it isn't hard to picture a 10-year-old going to school, while another of his age is accompanying him holding his heavy school bag. Why is it so and who is responsible? The other child also has a right to education. So, why is he denied this right?" questioned Ashok Agarwal, a social jurist.
To answer these questions, over 500 activists, Union ministers, MPs, bureaucrats and nearly 80 children from across the country participated in the National Convention on "Right to Education and Abolition of Child Labour: Freedom and Dignity for All Children," organised recently by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Unicef and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The broader question that emerged was "is education a solution to this increasing rate of child-labour or is it the poor quality of our education system that has led to the increasing dropout rate in schools?
According to V Vasanthi Devi from Campaign for Common School System, it is the miserable and deplorable quality of education, today, that has led to the increasing dropout rate, forcing more children into child labour. She added: "The present system imparts minimal skills to children and overall, the state fails to impart meaningful education to the children. Not only have we failed to universalise elementary education but also, our education system remains exclusionary and privatised."
Shantha Sinha, chairperson, NCPCR, stated that the right to quality education should belong to children at all levels "pre-school, primary, elementary and secondary school. She added, "Most Indian legislation in this regard, including the child labour law, does not cover children in the 15-18 age group. However, being illiterate or school dropouts, these children are vulnerable and often exploited as part of the informal, unskilled and casual workforce. Some are living in zones of civil unrest and are forced into the nexus of armed conflict as child soldiers and others are trapped into drug and substance abuse, living illegal lives, for no fault of their own."
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
"Discard all things made by child labourers," opined Kailash Satyarthi, chairperson, Bachpan Bachao Andolan and Global March Against Child labour. He said, "If we all decide not to but buy products made by child labourers "for instance, tea from tea stalls where under-aged children are working, " we can make a difference."
Stakeholders agreed on the fact that present laws must be amended in order to abolish child labour and that at least 6% of the country's GDP should be allocated to education. Further, there is also a need to bring children aged 0-6 and 14-18 under the purview of the right to free and compulsory education. According to CRY, by focussing only on the 6-14 age group, approximately 10.6 million children in the 0-6 age group and 17 million in the 14-18 age group are being excluded.
The convention concluded on an optimistic note to take forward the suggestions made and to provide greater national visibility to the issue of child labour and out-of-school children.