Childhood is a precious gift enjoyed with no worries or guilt. We often wish to go back to our carefree days. Even though the world is progressing at a rapid pace on all fronts, there exists an ignored group deprived of life. Though "known" to the world, yet it remains in the dark. From rural to urban areas - Child Labour is everywhere. In Spite of numerous Laws and Acts on trafficking, children are exploited all across the globe. There are a number of international, national campaigns and projects against Child Labour, and yet there is no end to it.
Poverty is the key reason. Children are taken along with their parents to work for meagre income. Some families send their children to faraway places like mines, construction areas, firework industry, brick industry and many more hazardous places. Some people act as agents who target such families promising the little buds with a friendly atmosphere to work and high salary. In reality, these children are dumped in rooms in bulk numbers which cannot accommodate everyone. Getting one meal a day is the only joy to them. Working in a toxic environment with no precautions, spoils their health at a very young age. Many industries target young and teenage children to work in such conditions because they are physically strong and the expense on them is less. Young girls are no exception to this. They are even taken to foreign countries to work as maids, babysitters where they are tortured and ill-treated. If we think this world is a free place, then we are totally wrong. More than a hundred million children in the world are subjected to Child Labour where they are exploited to an unimaginable level, losing their precious health and childhood.
Given the pandemic, the numbers have only increased. Children do not receive any form of education despite wishing to be educated. In fact, a huge number of children still hunt odd jobs to make ends meet. Education is a distant dream. Their economic condition requires them to do odd jobs instead of attending school. In rural areas, kids walk several miles to attend school. In spite of development in science and technology, many parts of the world still lack access to primary education and thereafter high school. Lack of transportation and other basic facilities is another major reason for dropouts.
The only weapon to eradicate Child Labour is Education. It's not an issue to be addressed only in India or Africa but the whole world. Education is accessible to all children only in television advertisements and movies, but the real picture is different. The priority of governments and NGO's should be in building schools that are accessible to all. Many parents leave no stone unturned in the process of getting their child educated. With the speducated the pandemic, the concept of "smart kids" is spreading worldwide leaving millions of children with zero access to education. When our kids are attending classes from the comfort of their home, we forget the plight of kids who study under the streetlight. As you read this from a gadget, there are children who do not even know what it means. It's time we urge the development of schools and facilities for rural areas, uplifting their lives by educating them. As citizens of a country where Child Labour is prevalent, we are in some or the other way responsible too. A small change draws in a million hopes. The hope that will change the life of a hundred million children.
Author: Aafrida Sulaigha Beevi. R, Associate, GIO Chennai.
Date: 20th June, 2021.
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